• Canadian Grand Prix - FP2

'The speed is there' - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is planning to make a few changes to his setup ahead of qualifying © Sutton Images

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• Report:
• Alonso quickest in disjointed session
  

• Race:
• Canadian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Lewis Hamilton

• Teams:
• McLaren

Lewis Hamilton is expecting a tough three way battle between McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, but is confident there is plenty of unlocked potential in his car.

Hamilton failed to get a clear lap in due to a puncture towards the end of the session on his set of super-soft tyres. He still managed to finish fourth fastest and is confident he can improve over the weekend.

"It was a very good session and a positive day for me," he said. "In P2, I think some debris from one of the incidents must have caused my puncture because I'd only just left the pits when I suddenly felt the rear sliding about.

"Nevertheless, we got through a lot of test components. I'm still trying to find the exact balance I need, and I'm not quite sure which direction I want to follow with my car, so I'll sit down with my engineers to analyse the data this evening.

"Our long-run pace is pretty good; the speed is there. It looks very close once again between Red Bull, Ferrari and ourselves, so we'll work on qualifying, get the car nicely dialled in and then I'll keep my fingers crossed."

Hamilton said the slippery circuit had made driving difficult on Friday.

"It's surprising to see so many incidents here, but it's such a demanding and slippery circuit that I guess some people just got caught out today," he added. "We're all testing the limits of our cars and you can't blame people for trying. There's no room for mistakes around a place like this and, unfortunately, some people paid the price today - but they'll bounce back tomorrow."

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