Lewis Hamilton says Canadian GP to be a close contest between McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari
McLaren’s Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton has said that a close contest can be expected from McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari in the Canadian Grand Prix of the 2011 Formula 1 season.
The Brit, though had an off day when he punctured his rear tyre in the second practice session, seemed confident about the pace of his car on long runs.
Hamilton said, “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.”
Talking about his incident in FP2, Hamilton said, “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. 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.”
A total of three red flags were induced in the second part of the session when three drivers crashed their cars. Hamilton said that the track is slippery and squeezed on some parts which is really difficult for the new drivers to cope up with.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel also had a crash in the morning session when he hit the wall on the final chicane of the track. However, Hamilton added that some of the drivers were unlucky to be caught in accidents but will bounce back on Saturday.
Hamilton still managed to post the fourth fastest time of the second session which was 1 minute and 15.977 seconds.
Although the Brit was slower than the top runners but he said that the team has gathered some useful data on the car and tyres which will be useful in the qualifiers and during the race.
Hamilton is currently second in the drivers’ championship standings with 85 points, which is 58 points less than Vettel.
The Canadian Grand Prix will be Hamilton’s chance to cut down Vettel’s unstoppable run.
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