Scuderia Ferrari‘s Sebastian Vettel says that he will do his “utmost” to get a good result at the Canadian Grand Prix in order to reverse his and Ferrari’s 2019 fortunes.
Both parties are still without a win in ’19 after six races, forced to watch Mercedes AMG Motorsport pairing Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas win each race and score five 1-2 finishes.
Vettel broke the record string of 1-2s with a second place in Monaco last time out after benefitting from a time penalty for Red Bull Racing‘s Max Verstappen, who finished second to Hamilton on-track.
12 months ago Vettel transformed a difficult start to his Canadian weekend into a race victory from pole position to regain the lead of the Drivers’ Championship by one point over Hamilton.
The four-time world champion enters this year’s edition of the Montréal race 45 points adrift of the championship-leading Briton.
“Last year, I started from pole and won the race, 40 years after [former Ferrari driver] Gilles Villeneuve won here,” said Vettel.
“I will do my utmost to get a good result.
“Canada is a race we drivers really look forward to. We race on an island right in Montreal, a fantastic place full of fans that ensure a unique atmosphere.
“Usually, the track starts off really slippery and it takes quite a while to rubber in and provide a decent level of grip.”
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto admitted that the team is not competitive enough at this stage of the season and, after a range of aerodynamic and power unit upgrades in order to redress the balance, said that no further changes are expected “for the time being”.
A circuit that is renowned for its punishment on brakes, Vettel believes that there will be chance to overtake and potentially eclipse its Monaco showing.
“The track is also known for being stop-and-go, with long straights and heavy braking points, split up by a few slow corners and some chicanes where you need to use the kerbs a lot,” Vettel added.
“The final part of the lap is usually the key: you have to brake perfectly at the big hairpin so that you get the best exit to have a lot of speed on the long straight that leads to the pit lane or the final chicane.
“This is where you can try and overtake.”