Vettel: Ferrari have tricks to beat Mercedes with in Canada

Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari will have some tricks up their sleeve for the Canadian Grand Prix as they look to curtail Mercedes' dominant start to the 2019 season. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve's power-hungry nature is expected to play into the hands of the SF90.

With long straights and heavy braking zones, the Ferrari power unit's grunt should work to Vettel and Charles Leclerc's benefit this weekend, with Mercedes' newfound strength in the corners compared to their rivals proving key so far this year.

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have shared this year's race wins four to two so far, but Vettel won from pole in Montreal last year and isn't ruling out a repeat this time around.

"There is always little tricks you can do, the question is whether they make a difference," Vettel said.

"But I am not sitting here trying to paint things black we haven't done a single lap this weekend so I am quite optimistic. It was a strong track for us last year.

"We have some tricks up our sleeves whether they work or not we will see.

"There are some ideas to improve where we are and they sound quite promising so I am optimistic but the real proof the only proof is the stop watch."

Vettel says Ferrari can understand why they have endured a deficit to Mercedes, with fixes on the way.

"I'm not too stressed. We go step by step and we have certain things in the pipeline," he said.

"I think we have an understanding of what the car needs. Some things that we can apply short-term, other things maybe more long-term."