Vettel believes Ferrari can catch Red Bull in Monaco

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Red Bull might have dominated free practice on Thursday, but Sebastian Vettel believes that they're still beatable this weekend.

"Can we be quicker than Red Bull? Why not?" the Ferrari driver said after the end of FP2, which saw him finish almost four tenths off the pace of his rivals.

It wouldn't be the first time this season that Ferrari has looked off-colour in practice only to bounce back to winning form when it came to qualifying and the race.

But Red Bull is looking very strong around the tight and twisty Monaco street circuit, and might be hard to catch.

“Always on Friday Red Bull looked a bit stronger, so let’s see if it’s the usual [deal]," he said.

"I think we have had some Friday practice sessions where they are quick this year," Vettel commented. "I think for us we need to look at ourselves which is what we do and try to do our homework."

As for his own performance today, Vettel felt he'd had a solid day at the office and had no complaints.

Ricciardo and Verstappen stay on top in Monaco second practice

"I was pretty comfortable in the car," he said. "I was happy today and I could play around even if I was sliding a lot.

"It is a bit more fun than other circuits. The track is very challenging and you have no room for mistakes.

"I was sliding a little bit too much," he admitted. "But as long as you know where it is going to end up and how it is going to slide, then it's fine.

"I still knew I wasn't going to touch the barriers," he added.

"You have to think twice before you drop it and try everything," he said. "But I think it's what it's about at a street circuit.

"Now we need to get on top of the sliding and reduce it then we should be in a good position," he said. "I think we will find some more pace."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.