Lewis Hamilton believes Saturday could see the first non-Red Bull pole position of the 2011 season after the McLaren driver set the quickest time in first practice.
Whilst he may have fallen to second later in the afternoon, the 26-year-old believes Sebastian Vettel, who topped the times in FP2, was likely running less fuel.
“I think we are set pretty good. I’m not too worried about Red Bull,” said the Brit on Friday. “We were very strong in P1 and in P2 again. Both me and Jenson are very happy with the car. I think we are in a strong position.
“The Red Bulls looked very quick in the end, but I’m pretty sure that they are not on the same fuel levels as we are. I feel optimistic about tomorrow. We’ll make some small changes overnight, but I think we can challenge Red Bull.”
Even the German believes it will be McLaren who he’ll have to beat on both Saturday and Sunday.
“The car feels good and it looks like McLaren are the ones to beat,” said Vettel.
“Obviously everyone’s [rear-wing] is more-or-less the same except McLaren’s but we’ll have to take a deeper a look and see how quick they are and then make a decision.”
