Having been just 0.004s shy of Hamilton after his second Q3 run, Vettel admitted he probably then tried just a little too hard on his final lap in his bid to make up time, which meant the German ultimately had to settle for second on the grid.
“I’m not so happy with the last run I had,” said Vettel. “I would have loved to repeat the second run and just find a little bit (more). I probably pushed a little bit too hard - lost it a bit here, in Turn 2, and then I tried a bit of catch-up.
“It was a good qualifying session, though. It was getting better at the end - at the beginning I was struggling to find a rhythm. But it was a great atmosphere, people cheering – they’re all on it – so it’s really great to be here.”
Asked if he and Ferrari have the pace to take victory on Sunday, Vettel responded simply: “I think we have.”
Vettel, who will line up two places ahead of team mate Kimi Raikkonen on the grid, has experience of winning the Canadian Grand Prix, having previously triumphed with Red Bull in 2013.
Ferrari have not secured victory here since 2004.
