Italian GP: Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg hoped for more from Monza

The duo were encouraged by their pace in Friday practice, and remained optimistic when they took fourth and sixth on the grid.

But a lack of pace on the softer tyres in the first of their three stints cost the Mercedes too much ground to get back among the frontrunners.

Their frustration was then compounded by the strong pace the W03 showed late in the race on the hard tyre, Rosberg setting a string of fastest laps as he charged back to seventh.

"Seventh place is an improvement on my recent finishes so I'm satisfied with that today, although there may have been potential for more," said Rosberg.

"I had no grip on my option tyres in the first stint, which were the same set that gave me problems in Q3.

"After the first stop, I had very good pace and was able to set a few fastest race laps and move up the field with some nice overtakes."

Schumacher felt that although the result was a slight disappointment, Mercedes could still take encouragement from Monza.

"It was a fun race today - although I must admit that, following our performance on Friday, I had secretly hoped we would be able to move up the field," he said.

"But we had a tricky first stint. After that, everything went really well, we were on the pace and I think we showed a clear upwards trend today.

"I kind of ran out of laps this afternoon and, if the race had been a bit longer, I'd have been able to battle even further forward."