Sebastian Vettel set the fastest overall time in Friday's practice sessions for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix to provide another stark reminder of Red Bull's early domination of the Formula One season. The German lapped the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in one minute 16.877 seconds to erase any doubts that Red Bull might struggle to set the pace on a track considered unsuitable to its cars. Spain's Fernando Alonso was second overall in his Ferrari, 0.086 seconds behind Vettel, with Germany's Nico Rosberg third in a Mercedes and Vettel's Australian teammate Mark Webber fourth. Lewis Hamilton, who won the last round of the championship in Turkey, could manage only seventh place for McLaren while his British teammate and world champion Jenson Button was 11th after setting the quickest time in the first of the two sessions. Red Bull has taken pole position in each of the seven previous races this season but was not expected to be as dominant on the Montreal street circuit because it has slightly less straight-line speed than its main rival McLaren. The Red Bull has been superior to its rivals this season because of its speed through fast corners but the Canadian track features a series of long straights and hairpin turns that better suit the British pairing of Hamilton and Button. McLaren, which finished first and second in Turkey after Vettel and championship leader Webber collided while jostling for the lead, posted two of the fastest three times in the morning session but slipped back in the afternoon, when times were marginally quicker. A handful of drivers, including Vettel, spun or slid off the track while others came perilously close to touching the concrete walls and barriers as most teams used the two 90-minute sessions to refamiliarise themselves with the tricky Montreal circuit, which is back on the Formula One calendar after a year's absence.
