Vettel: Red Bull's heads held high for Montreal

Red Bull have endured a rough ride in the ten days since May’s Turkish Grand Prix. As well as the furore that surrounded the crash between team mates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber at Istanbul Park, the team also know that this weekend’s Canadian race will be a tough test, with many tipping McLaren to dominate.

Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with its slow corners and long straights, should certainly favour the F-Duct equipped MP4-25 of the British team. But rather than feeling downcast, Vettel is optimistic the previously dominant RB6 has enough performance in reserve to overcome the dearth of high-speed corners, in which the car has been particularly quick, to maintain Red Bull’s advantage.

“It’s a very nice track - I like it,” the German told Red Bull’s official website. “On paper it’s probably not the best for our car, but on the other hand our car has been very competitive at every single race this year, so I think we can go there with our heads held high. We will try to do our best.”

McLaren’s much talked about F-duct system, which stalls the car’s rear wing at speed, reducing drag, should be particularly beneficial in Montreal. Red Bull trialled their own version in practice in Turkey, but results were inconclusive and the team are not expected to use the system in Canada.

“I think the McLarens will be very strong there because, whatever you call them - J-switch or F-duct system - should work there again very well,” added Vettel. “So we’ll see, but I think we have a very good chance. We’ll try to score the maximum amount of points.”

Red Bull arrive in Montreal after scoring seven consecutive pole positions and three race wins in 2010. While Webber is leading the drivers’ standings with 93 points, Vettel is down in fifth, 15 points adrift of his team mate. Red Bull, meanwhile, are one point down on constructors’ leaders McLaren.