Ralf's Williams caught fire in the Monza pitlane on Tuesday after teams resumed testing after a six-week ban.
The Colombian had a blistering late lap to outpace his German team mate at Williams Ralf Schumacher.
"We knew that from the beginning and we've sort of had confirmation by now and it will be a tough fight to the end," said the German driver.
Nico Rosberg denied world champion team mate Lewis Hamilton a fifth pole position in a row by seizing the top slot for Mercedes at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday.
Juan Pablo Montoya accused Rubens Barrichello of illegally blocking him in order to help Ferrari team mate Michael Schumacher.
Chief Williams engineer Sam Michael said it was clear the team had some catching up to do but it was not all doom and gloom.
Lewis Hamilton won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday to equal the late Ayrton Senna's tally of 41 Formula One victories and move 48 points clear of Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg with five races remaining.
Sebastian Vettel won a tense Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday in a Ferrari one-two that stretched his championship lead to 14 points after Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton sportingly surrendered third place to his teammate.
Germany's Nico Rosberg chalked up his 10th pole position of the season on Saturday after beating team mate Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes sweep of the front row in Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying.
Netflix's behind-the-scenes 'Drive to Survive' Formula One documentary has been a huge success that could change the way broadcasters engage with audiences, one of the sport's top sponsors said on Tuesday.
The BMW Williams driver said he assumed he would be fit again for the last two races.
The world champion set up a front row duel with title rival Juan Pablo Montoya in the Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.
Ferrari's five times world champion that the first half of the season had shown how hard it was to make predictions.
Lewis Hamilton won a dramatic Russian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday to take a huge step towards his third world championship after Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg retired with throttle failure.
The win also set a record, one that Hamilton had previously shared with seven times champion Michael Schumacher, of 41 wins from pole position.
The Mercedes driver's 55th career win was hard-fought and tense, however, with Ferrari's Vettel seizing the lead at the start and in the hunt all the way to the finish as the tyre strategies played out.
Nico Rosberg said it was 'business as usual' after beating Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the fourth race in a row on Saturday in the first Formula One qualifying held in Mexico since 1992
Formula One rookie George Russell's earliest motorsport memory is of pedalling a toy tractor around Britain's go-kart paddocks.
Nico Rosberg seized pole position for the Russian Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday with world champion Lewis Hamilton joining his team mate on the front row in a perfect qualifying for Mercedes.
Nico Rosberg won the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix for the second year in a row on Sunday and denied Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton a first success in the homeland of his late hero Ayrton Senna.
Sebastian Vettel's Formula One title bid could suffer a further setback after a bizarre post-race incident at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Lewis Hamilton's dreams of winning the Italian Grand Prix for the third year in a row, and chalking up his 50th Formula One race victory, went out with the start lights on Sunday.
Rosberg and triple world champion Lewis Hamilton shared testing duties on Tuesday, with the Briton taking over in the afternoon for a race simulation. Together, they did 169 laps without a hitch
Formula One teams say they will race in Russia, despite the crisis in Ukraine and downing of a Malaysian airliner, unless the country's debut Grand Prix in October is called off or they are ordered not to go.
Lewis Hamilton put Monaco misery behind him on Sunday with a controlled Canadian Grand Prix victory.
Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg put Mercedes on pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday and ended team mate Lewis Hamilton's hopes of a hat-trick.
It was Hamilton's third victory of the season and also his third in a row at the sun-bathed but windswept Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Hamilton's flying lap of one minute 22.188 seconds set a new record at Albert Park but was only 0.268 seconds in front of German Vettel, offering the tantalising prospect of a competitive championship after three years of domination by the Silver Arrows.
Nico Rosberg eased to victory at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday with a drive that handed Mercedes their third straight constructors championship and extended the German's lead in his pursuit of a maiden Formula One title.
Formula One rolls into Malaysia this week for the second round of the championship at the Sepang International Circuit, where talk surrounding the utter dominance of Mercedes will for once take a back seat to the belated arrival of Fernando Alonso.
Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel limbered up for a Japanese Grand Prix that could bring him a fourth successive title on Sunday with the fastest time in Friday practice.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton became Formula One world champion for the second time after winning the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'It's a great job by the team. Usually in the first day you don't get that many laps so I'm really happy'
Nico Rosberg beat title favourite Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the decisive Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday as the dominant Mercedes team mates locked out the front row in qualifying.
Mick Schumacher made his first track appearance as a fully signed-up Formula One driver on Friday
Nico Rosberg ended the Formula One season on a winning high in Abu Dhabi on Sunday with team mate and triple world champion Lewis Hamilton following him home in a record 12th one-two finish for dominant Mercedes.
Formula One was accused of sending out a mixed message on alcohol at the Monaco Grand Prix on Friday by giving extensive publicity to drinks brands while campaigning for road safety.
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