Formula 1 championship rivals, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, are predicting a close fight between Ferrari and Mercedes at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The top two teams were covered by less than half a second in Practice 2 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with exactly 0.05s between the two drivers with a combined seven world titles.

For Hamilton, even though Friday indicated a return to form after the events in Monaco, he still considered the Italian team as the quicker.

“It's been a pretty good first day for the team,” he reflected. “The Ferraris are looking fast here and as the times show, it's super close at the top right now.

“I feel like we are still just a little bit behind the red cars at this early stage of the weekend, but we'll be pushing as hard as we can to close the gap ahead of qualifying on Saturday.

“After a tough weekend in Monaco, the main thing is that our car is already feeling a lot better around Montreal. It should be game on for the rest of the weekend.”

The tyres remain the deciding factor of where the advantage lies and during the low fuel runs in the afternoon, it became clear that Mercedes still needed at least an extra lap to optimise the performance.

Ferrari also appears able to get more performance from the ultrasoft compound but Vettel is not getting carried away just yet.

“Of course,” he replied when asked if pole was the target in qualifying. “One-two would be ideal but I think Mercedes looked good today. I haven’t seen much yet but I think it will be very, very close. More or less as we all expected in a way, which is good.”

Sebastian did reveal, however, that it hadn't been the smoothest day possible as the Scuderia looked to overcome the lack of grip out on the racetrack.

“It was a tricky day, the track was very slippery so I think overall we tried some things, some worked and some didn’t work.

“I think overall we should have a good understanding and hopefully we can be better tomorrow,” he added.

Kimi Raikkonen has denied Ferrari favoured Sebastian Vettel during the Monaco Grand Prix but did defend the use of team orders if circumstances required.

Vettel was able to overhaul the Finn during the pit-stop phase of the race in Monte Carlo by staying out longer and setting a number of fastest laps to emerge ahead after his own stop three laps later.

Many saw that as Ferrari, who have a history of implementing No. 1 and No. 2 drivers, giving the four-time world champion a superior strategy to achieve the desired result rather than making the switch out on the track.

Raikkonen played down those claims, however, believing it was simply a matter of circumstances that saw him lose out on a first win in four years.

"It's not difficult with strategy, we don't second guess as we work as a team,” he claimed. “Sometimes we get it wrong and it's not because of me, it's not because it's [the team], it happened last time and we've seen it many, many times -- things come together and you get it right or wrong. It often happens.

"In my view, it's very little that you get it always 100 percent right, circuits like Monaco give you a bigger penalty because the overtaking is difficult. Even if it is a lapped car it's much harder than any other place, so it just happened.

"No, we don't have anything,” he added when asked if there are any other team orders being used.

"But obviously when it comes to that part of the season that one guy has a chance and one guy doesn't have a chance it's normal, it's like it's always been at any team, [even] McLaren.

“I don't have any issue with that, it's a fair game. We fight until we can and then if we have to do something else then fair enough."

Many also took Raikkonen's lack of celebration on the podium as a hint that he felt there had been some kind of interference by Ferrari.

"I'm not mad, I was never mad. I was not happy finishing second, as simple as that," the 37-year-old said in response.

“Seb won, we were one and two so that was not a bad result for the team. I was not happy because I would much rather prefer being first than second - as simple as that.

"If people think I should be smiling that's up to them, I'll be smiling when I have the results from myself that I expect, simple as that. I think it would be much more worrying if I was happy with second, third, or whatever, I don't really care what people think."

Daniel Ricciardo has played down the impact of an engine issue that saw him miss a large portion of second practice in Canada.

The Australian reported a loss of power over the radio out on track before returning to the pits, where he would ultimately remain.

Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz claimed he heard the TAG Heuer-branded Renault power unit "burbling" down the pit-lane perhaps suggesting an exhaust issue, however, further details have yet to be revealed.

Ricciardo was unconcerned, however, instead focusing on the potential shown by his team-mate.

"We didn’t get many flying laps today but it is okay, I have been to this track before so tomorrow I will learn from Max [Verstappen]’s runs today," the 27-year-old commented.

"He looked pretty competitive at the end there he did a low 13, so that was not bad. Hopefully, it is representative and I can join the battle tomorrow."

The podium sitter at the last two races also sees little reason to change his approach for the remainder of the weekend.

"From the start of the season we knew we can’t win, or it is going to be hard to win," Daniel claimed, "we still try and drive the cars as fast as they are going to go so not much changes from that point of view.

"Like damage limitation, we are not really protecting a world championship at the moment so we just do what we can," he added," we got a lot of bits on the car this weekend, and Max’s pace looked pretty solid today so we hopefully we can repeat that tomorrow."

As for Verstappen, he compounded a difficult day for Red Bull by causing a brief red flag during the final half an hour due to a gearbox issue.

Though he was also remaining upbeat, claiming the team could be "pleased" with the pace shown, he was then asked if the inability to compete with Ferrari and Mercedes was becoming frustrating.

"Yeah but it has been like this all season so it doesn’t really change," he responded. "We are mainly fighting for 5th and 6th, so that doesn’t change. We are not fighting for victories but fifth is like a victory for us I guess, so you just try to make the best of it."

Nico Hulkenberg would be open to partnering Fernando Alonso at Renault, amid reports the Spaniard could return to the team he won his two Formula 1 championships at in 2005 and 2006.

Alonso seemed to fuel the possibility of him leaving McLaren at the end of this season, claiming the British team, which currently sits bottom of the Constructors' standings, would have to be "winning before September" if he was to stay on next year.

The 35-year-old has reiterated that he would only want a seat in F1 where he could compete for a third world title, though it remains to be seen if the Enstone-outfit could meet that requirement, at least the prospect of having Alonso as a team-mate is only a positive one for Hulkenberg.

"[It would be] More of a chance, and a good reference for me to measure myself with the guy who for years is considered to be one of the best in the world and F1," he said.

"I'd be open to that, sure. I think I can learn from him and I think it would be good for the team, for the whole project as well to get someone like him on board."

Both drivers also have the distinction of having competed on one-off occasions outside F1 in recent years, with Alonso returning in Canada after a failed attempt to win the Indy 500.

"I didn't follow it that much, to be honest, but I was quite impressed," the German said of the Spaniard's effort. 

"I don't know anything about Indy, I have to say, but I didn't think he could just come in and brush the other guys off and go home with a win. I didn't follow it too closely but it looked pretty much like that.”

Hulkenberg also commented about how Fernando's success, along with his own with Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours two years ago, highlighted the high standard of drivers in today’s F1.

"I thought to myself, the example of him going to Indy, he had a good chance of winning that race. What I did a couple of years ago at Le Mans, it just shows the drivers in F1, the quality, it's right up there, and we're still the best drivers in the world," he said.

"That shows if you go and explore a different racing series with very little time but be on the money and be competitive, it's just good confirmation of that."

Kimi Raikkonen gave Ferrari the lead in the second practice for the Canadian Grand Prix, while Red Bull had their programs cut short by mechanical problems.

Raikkonen was the only driver under 73 seconds as he set the fastest time of 1m12.935s on Friday afternoon ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel with Valtteri Bottas taking fourth position.

Red Bull came to Montreal with upgrades hoping to be competitive once again but these hopes will be reconsidered after both drivers not able to complete the session.

Daniel Ricciardo had an engine failure while his team-mate Max Verstappen was forced to stop following a suspected gearbox problem. The only silver lining for the Milton Keynes-based outfit was the Dutchman's pace as he was within half a second of the best time set by the Ferrari.

Felipe Massa took sixth, as Williams look more competitive around one of their strongest circuits with Fernando Alonso, who had a hydraulic problem in Practice 1 and missed much of Practice 2, was able to finish seventh 0.2 seconds adrift of his former team-mate.

Force India continued to look strong as Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez ended eighth and 10th respectively with Daniil Kvyat also enjoying a good Friday in ninth, one place better than he had managed in the morning.

The day was noticeable for all the drivers struggling for a lack of grip. The reasons for this were two-fold as the rarely used Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was incredibly dusty and slippery, but also the harder compounds this year not biting into the racetrack as much.

This meant almost every driver spun, either at Turns 1&2 or 6&7 at some point during the day, but none more so than Romain Grosjean who spun three times in second practice including on consecutive laps at the same corner, Turn 6.

The Frenchman was furious over the radio yet still managed to claim 11th for Haas ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in 12th, in what was an improved session for the Renault driver.

Carlos Sainz was also recovering for time lost in FP1, recording the 43 laps and finishing the session 13th, while Lance Stroll, who takes his home Grand Prix for the first time as an F1 driver, was not able to produce a result better than 17th.

The two Saubers completed the field with the McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne in between Marcus Ericsson in 18th and Pascal Wehrlein in 20th.

Red Bull drivers, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, are hoping continued upgrades brought to the RB13 can offset concerns of engine performance at the next three races.

Team boss Christian Horner had earlier admitted he expects the former Constructors' champions to struggle to repeat the podium results Red Bull has achieved at the last two races, as the power-sensitive circuits in Montreal, Baku and Austria would highlight their main weakness, the Renault power unit.

But Ricciardo, who was responsible for the third place trophies in Spain and Monaco, believes it will be a waiting game to judge their performance.

“Not as good as Monaco,” the 27-year-old conceded. We have quite a few new parts on the car this week and we are at a point now where a bit like last year we are starting to slowly improve and accelerate, so our development will match the tracks so I don’t think we will fall behind too much.

“We will stay in there. I don’t expect us to be too bad. Baku, we don’t really know. Last year we were not competitive in the race, but we had a lot of tyre overheating and that. Qualifying we were not too bad, so Baku is still an unknown.

“Here we can be at least the third best team, but I don’t think we will be too far off. I wouldn’t expect to be a second off in qualifying but let’s see.”

Team-mate Max Verstappen largely repeated the Australian's comments though did admit Red Bull may have to rely on incidents ahead to gain places.

The Dutchman also revealed he is still trying to put the events of Monaco behind him, where a call to pit early left him stuck behind the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.

Carlos Sainz admits he feels honoured to even be considered for a possible seat with Ferrari in 2018.

The Spaniard is expected to be a key player in the driver market, after revealing last year that he was targeting next year as the one in which he progresses up the grid. 

He was subject to interest from Renault and Mercedes, following the retirement of Nico Rosberg, last year and now is being thought of as a potential replacement for Kimi Raikkonen at the Scuderia. 

"Thank you, because it's a list every driver wants to be on," he told Sky Italia when told of the potential Ferrar interest. "But I owe a lot to Red Bull."

Indeed, Red Bull have been determined to keep Sainz on their books, as he is first in line to be promoted to the senior team should either Max Verstappen or Daniel Ricciardo leave.

"As long as I am a Toro Rosso driver I will not lose hope of going up to Red Bull, so I will keep giving everything to try," the 22-year-old said.

When asked if that meant he would be prepared to remain at Toro Rosso, he added: "I don't think about it yet, it's too soon and for me, it's necessary to leave all the doors open.

"But I will also never close the door or the opportunity to continue one more year because for the moment I am very happy here."

Sainz did bemoan a lack of competitive teams that can challenge at the front, with, at least for this year it seems, only Ferrari and Mercedes able to battle for wins and the championship.

"For me, there are not enough places for all the good drivers in F1," he claimed.

"Look at Fernando (Alonso). I'm not asking for all cars to be the same, but if Carlos Sainz does a perfect weekend, he cannot be on the podium."

Lewis Hamilton has described the 2017 Pirelli tyres as "numb" and inconsistent as Mercedes look to overcome their issues with the rubber at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The triple world champion had a weekend to forget in Monaco, qualifying outside the top 10 before finishing seventh, he also continues to believe improvements made by his team won’t be enough to beat Ferrari this weekend.

"We have seen Ferrari are the quickest at the moment so they are favourites," said Hamilton on Thursday.

"But we are working hard to rectify the issues we had at the past race.

"I hope we can attack this weekend. We have some unique bits on the cars that could work well this weekend."

Hamilton has good memories in Canada having scored his first F1 win a decade ago and has won four more times since.

Considering if Mercedes had a big gap to make up to the Scuderia, he added: "Not that I know of."

"We were just focusing on this race, and after the last race, we had some information for them to be working on.

"We didn't have the solutions at that point.”

The tyre issues his team faced, particularly with the ultrasoft compound, have been around since the start of the season in Melbourne. Though Hamilton knows the team is trying to resolve the issue, unpredictability in determining the tyres' readiness out on track is making finding a solution even harder.

"We've definitely done some analysis but we will find whether or not we've made progress this weekend," he explained.

"You push, or you drive slow depending on the temperature of the circuit. And when it comes to doing your laps, sometimes they're ready and sometimes they're not. It's difficult. It's kind of a numb feeling.

"Sometimes the tyres feel exactly the same as when you leave the garage and sometimes they grip up. It's the same for every time”

Lewis Hamilton claimed the early initiative by setting the quickest time in first practice at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver posted a 1m13.809s with around 20 minutes to go, leading the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel by 0.198s as less than half a second covered the two teams.

Force India had a strong morning claiming fifth and sixth, with Sergio Perez ahead of Esteban Ocon, that was due to in part to a muted morning for Red Bull, who completed fewer laps than most and saw Max Verstappen in seventh and Daniel Ricciardo wait until late to move up to ninth.

Felipe Massa confirmed Williams should enjoy a much stronger weekend than in Monaco in eighth, as Daniil Kvyat completed top 10 for Toro Rosso.

The Russian would do all the work for the Italian team, however, as his team-mate, Carlos Sainz pulled off the circuit exiting the hairpin on his installation lap due to a suspected engine failure.

That would start what was an eventful session, as a very dusty Circuit Gilles Villeneuve saw all drivers struggling for grip. 

A number of spins occurred, including both Ferraris in the first 25 minutes, Raikkonen lost the rear of his car applying the throttle exiting Turn 7 while Vettel spun after his car was unsettled on the kerb between Turn's 1 and 2.

Many others would follow suit in the same areas, however, including Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon and Marcus Ericsson all the Turn 6 and 7 chicane.

Known as one of the toughest tracks of the year on the brakes, that would be proven too with several drivers misjudging their braking points and forced across the run-off area at Turn 8 and the final chicane.

Fernando Alonso, fresh from his participation at the Indy 500, would return to yet more poor reliability as a hydraulics issue forced him to stop at the hairpin in his McLaren. The performance of team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne, claiming 11th, gave some optimism to the British team who are expected to struggle down Montreal's long straights.

Lance Stroll had a reasonable first outing at his home circuit in 13th, but, further down the order, Renault had a difficult morning with Nico Hulkenberg 15th and Jolyon Palmer, who had minor electrical problems early, in 18th, battling with the two Saubers.

Jolyon Palmer has claimed he is not worried about his critics, believing he is under no pressure regarding his immediate future in Formula 1.

The former GP2 champion, who is yet to score a point in 2017, insists results are not reflecting the real effort and pace he is putting, yet the Briton did not deny the disappointing results but admitted he is motivated to overcome the odds.

"What puts pressure on is not putting in good performances," he said. "I am aware that the start of the year has been pretty disappointing, but I am working hard and I am ready to turn it around.

"In terms of the rumours, there have been rumours since my third ever race in Formula 1, so it is nothing new for me.

"The way to stop it is to do well on track and hopefully I can do that this weekend."

Palmer is hoping to use the momentum from a good drive at the Monaco Grand Prix last time out, that earned him his best result of the season so far in 11th, after starting P16.

"It's a confidence boost," he admitted.

"There have been some positives recently, even if it doesn't necessarily show on the results sheets, but Monaco at least... a race distance, and we were pretty competitive in terms of times.

"When you start 16th it's difficult to make any overtakes or do much else, running in traffic, but at least with the better pace we can take a bit of confidence [from it]."