MONTREAL — Sebastian Vettel said he believed Ferrari had rediscovered its form and was back among the front-running teams after Fernando Alonso topped the times in Friday afternoon's second free practice session ahead of Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix. The defending triple world champion said he felt the scarlet scuderia, with widespread support in Montreal, would be hunting victory again. Ferrari endured a disappointing Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago when Alonso was only able to finish seventh. But the two-time champion Spaniard topped the times ahead of Briton Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, leaving Vettel admiring their rediscovered pace. He said he also felt that Monaco winner Mercedes, which has started from three successive poles, will also be a threat through either Hamilton or Monaco winner German Nico Rosberg. Or both. Vettel said: “On one lap if you look at the timesheets, Mercedes was again very, very quick. And Ferrari looks competitive on both long and short runs, so I think those will be the main two rivals. Never forget the Lotus because they can be a surprise in the race by going further (on tires) than anyone else. So it is difficult to say, but you need to keep an eye all these teams I mentioned.” Vettel's Red Bull teammate Australian Mark Webber, who was fourth fastest while Vettel was down in seventh, said: “On the short run we have some room for improvement and Mercedes looks very, very quick again. “But I felt we were pretty strong overall. In the wet on the ‘inters' I felt comfortable straightaway. It is always tricky around here to get everything together in those conditions, if you are not comfortable you can bleed a lot of lap time but the car seemed good.” Mercedes boss OK'd tire test Mercedes boss Ross Brawn confirmed Friday that he made the decision for his team to be part of a Pirelli tire test in Spain that is being investigated as a possible breach of the sport's rules. But Brawn reaffirmed his belief that the team had done nothing wrong and is confident Mercedes will be cleared of any wrongdoing when it goes before the International Automobile Federation (FIA) tribunal. “I think there's been some rumors before and nothing's happened,” Brawn told a news conference after the first day of practice for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix. “I think we should say let's wait and see what the tribunal finds.” — Agencies
