Sep.9 (GMM) Mercedes is working "almost exclusively" on its 2012 car, team boss Ross Brawn has revealed.

He was speaking ahead of the Italian grand prix at Monza, where Ferrari's Felipe Massa had singled out the Brackley based team as a potential frontrunner this weekend.

Massa thinks Mercedes' engine/KERS/DRS combination will be particularly effective on the long Monza straights, but Michael Schumacher insisted: "I don't think we have a reason to talk about victories at the moment.

"We'll have to postpone this until next year," said the German.

According to the Guardian newspaper, Brawn confirmed that the "focus is firmly on 2012 now and I think that would be the case for the majority of the teams".

As well as Massa, however, McLaren's Jenson Button is also predicting a strong showing for Schumacher and teammate Nico Rosberg in Italy.

"The Mercedes was very quick in a straight line at Spa," he said. "I'm hoping that was their Monza wing, because if not they are going to be very, very fast here."

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