- Barcelona Test - Day 2
Monaco Red Bull's opportunity to beat Mercedes - Vettel
Sebastian Vettel thinks Monaco is a good opportunity for Red Bull to beat Mercedes for the first time this year.
Mercedes has dominated the opening five races, with Red Bull yet to finish a race higher than third and unable to finish within 40 seconds of the W05 Hybrid at Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix. Nevertheless, the tight and twisty street circuit in Monaco could even the playing field by negating the power advantage Mercedes has over Renault and Ferrari.
Asked if Red Bull would be able to compete with Mercedes in Monaco, Vettel said: "I think yes. It is difficult to predict but maybe at Monaco you need a little bit less power. You still need power but probably a little bit less than other places. Maybe there will be some rain - that could help us as well - so there is always the chance to beat everybody."
Vettel switched his chassis ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, with German reports suggesting the one he used at the first four races was warped.
"It was not twisted, it was another issue. But I think Sunday was already a step in the right direction. Last weekend was a very short weekend on my side with few laps, but it was definitely a much better feeling in the car than previous races."
Vettel took part in the second day of this week's pre-season test, but said it had not been aimed at working on a Monaco-specific set-up.
"Not really, no. Also in terms of tires we used the tires that we used last weekend. It was more useful for us to try and understand more of the car in general rather than prepare for one single race."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
