Heidfeld will miss KERS at Monza

The Hinwil-based team abandoned the energy recovery device earlier this year, after feeling that the technology did not benefit its drivers enough.

With Monza's high-speed characteristics set to play into the hands of the KERS teams, Heidfeld think his outfit may have to lower its expectations - despite a strong showing in Belgium last weekend.

"The speed we had at Spa-Francorchamps with lower downforce gives us hope that we could do even better at Monza with even less downforce," he said on Friday.

"However, the cars equipped with KERS will probably have a considerable advantage over the long straights of this high-speed circuit."

BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen claimed, however, that the whole outfit was optimistic about its chances after the morale boosting performance at Spa.

"We are aiming to build on our good results from Spa-Francorchamps - where we were competing at the front of the field for the first time in a long while - in the final race in Europe," he explained.

"Our strong performance in Belgium gave the whole team an extra shot of motivation for the next races, and we are confident that we are getting back into the fast lane once again."

BMW Sauber will, like all the teams, use a low-downforce configuration for the Italian GP - with a modified front wing and small rear wing.