• Canadian Grand Prix - FP2

It's close at the top - Vettel

ESPN Staff
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Sebastian Vettel set the fourth fastest time in Friday practice © Press Association
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Sebastian Vettel is expecting a close battle for victory at the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend and is confident Red Bull will be in the mix.

Vettel set the fourth fastest time in second practice as the top five cars were separated by less than 0.3s. The threat of rain meant some drivers went out on the faster super-soft tyres in first practice, making it more difficult to read the true pace of the cars.

But Vettel said he was happy with his programme, which involved running on super-softs in FP1, and reckons it will be close among the leading teams.

"We had some decent laps, even with a bit of a different approach in terms of when we put the tyre [compounds] on the car," he said. "I think we can be fairly happy but it looks to be pretty close so we will see what we can do tomorrow."

He said the performance step between the two compounds was only a few tenths rather than the big gap drivers have experienced at other circuits.

"I think it's the same for everyone, we didn't see one car or one team that seemed to make a massive step [on super-soft tyres], but I haven't seen all the times yet. Certainly for us in the morning, and if you look at the other people in the afternoon, it was a step, but it's fairly small. We're talking a couple of tenths and not seconds."

Asked if there was extra pressure for him to deliver a victory here this year after losing the lead on the final lap 12 months ago to Jenson Button, Vettel said: "No, we just hope we can change that on Sunday. It's a normal race and it's a great track and I'm enjoying more just going round rather than thinking about anything else."

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