A beaming Rubens Barrichello made it clear on Sunday that he will push his Brawn GP teammate Jenson Button all the way to win this year's title race.

Ferrari boss Stefanco Domenicali was keen to play down any expectations at Sunday's Italian Grand Prix following Finn Kimi Raikkonen's win in Belgium.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso led a McLaren one-two in the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday to cut team mate Lewis Hamilton's lead to three points with four races remaining. Hamilton (22) had another highly impressive afternoon but the British rookie was doomed to follow in the Spaniard's slipstream.

Michael Schumacher, the most successful Formula One driver of all time, said on Sunday that he was retiring from the sport at the end of the season. Ferrari announced the German's decision just minutes after Schumacher won the Italian Grand Prix. "It has been a really tough decision not to work together at this level but I knew that one day it had to come," Schumacher told a post-race news conference.

Michael Schumacher's position as a Formula One icon, the most successful driver in the history of the sport, is assured. Whether Ferrari's seven-times world champion is also the greatest is another question, one guaranteed to trigger endless debate long after the ever-controversial German has finally left the stage.

McLaren-Mercedes's Juan Pablo Montoya admitted that concerns over the tyres at the Italian Grand Prix had been playing on his mind as he took victory at Monza. Teammate Kimi Raikkonen was fighting his way through the field when he was called into the pits to change a heavily blistered rear tyre.

Juan Pablo Montoya won the Italian Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday and Renault's Fernando Alonso finished second to maintain the inside track on the season championship. Alonso's teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, was third and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth for the most impressive performance of the day.

World champion Michael Schumacher warned his Ferrari team's loyal Tifosi fans in Monza on Saturday not to expect a miracle podium performance from him in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix. Schumacher looked a shadow of his seven-time title-winning self when he settled for seventh in qualifying on Saturday.

Championship challenger Kimi Raikkonen said in Monza on Friday that he will ignore the performances of title race leader Fernando Alonso and concentrate on winning the remaining five races of the season. Raikkonen knows nothing less than victory will do if he wants to close down the 24-point gap to Spaniard Alonso quickly.