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MONTREAL, Canada - There are signs of strain between Mercedes team mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg but don't expect any cracks in their domination of the 2014 Formula 1 season to appear at this weekend's Canadian GP.
With six wins from six races, Mercedes has ruled the podium with Hamilton taking four victories sandwiched between wins by his German team mate at the season opener in Australia and two weeks earlier in Monaco.
Adding to the confident mood at Mercedes, Hamilton has won three times in Canada, one of them his first GP victory when he was with McLaren in 2007.
ANOTHER 1-2 ON WAY?
Hamilton told reporters on Thursday (June 5 2014): "There are some tracks you like more than others and this is one I particularly like. I like coming to Canada, I always have a great response from the fans and this is one of the best GP's of the year in terms of the turn-out and the city."
The track, with its long straights, should also be ideally for Mercedes' speed and power. Rivals up and down the paddock felt Mercedes, chasing a sixth 1-2 finish in a row, would be hard to beat on the island circuit.
2013 Canadian winner Sebastian Vettel said: "We have always struggled a little bit here. Our approach in the past was not to be fastest down the straights and we are probably a little bit down in terms of power still so it will be difficult to match the Mercedes power down the straights.
"We will try to do our best down the straights and better than the rest in the corners. We have reason to be confident but it could be a difficult weekend."
HEATED DIFFERENCES
One thing that could slow Mercedes is if the rivalry between the two Mercedes championship contenders gets out of hand after flaringin Monaco.
"If they hit each other it is good for us," said Vettel, who knows something of team rivalries having had heated differences with his former team mate Mark Webber. "If they take themselves out but they are clever enough not to, you can't rely on that. I think you shouldn't be at war with your team mate because it hurts the team atmosphere but you don't have to be best friends."
Hamilton again emphasised that he had cleared the air with Rosberg after a frosty and controversial Monaco GP. The Briton had suggested after qualifying for that race that Rosberg had deliberately run wide in the final seconds of qualifying, bringing out yellow warning flags and forcing him to slow when he might have gone faster than his team mate.
Hamilton lost the championship lead to Rosberg after the German ended his run of four wins in a row but took to Twitter to declare "fences mended". The tweet was accompanied by a link to a photograph of the two, on unicycles and smiling, from their teenage years.
FRIENDS AGAIN?
Hamilton said: "It's done and dusted and we look forward to working together to win the Constructors' championship. We spoke and then we individually spoke to the team and nothing has really changed.
"The team has done a great job of supporting us. It's full steam ahead - we had dinner with the team and things have never been better. We just go from strength to strength.
"People have ups and downs and this is no different from any other experience Nico and I have had in... God knows how many years we've been racing together. We move on, we're pushing forward.
"There's a long long way to go in the season - we're looking forward to the battle."
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2014 Canadian F1 GP weekend.
With six wins from six races, Mercedes has ruled the podium with Hamilton taking four victories sandwiched between wins by his German team mate at the season opener in Australia and two weeks earlier in Monaco.
Adding to the confident mood at Mercedes, Hamilton has won three times in Canada, one of them his first GP victory when he was with McLaren in 2007.
ANOTHER 1-2 ON WAY?
Hamilton told reporters on Thursday (June 5 2014): "There are some tracks you like more than others and this is one I particularly like. I like coming to Canada, I always have a great response from the fans and this is one of the best GP's of the year in terms of the turn-out and the city."
The track, with its long straights, should also be ideally for Mercedes' speed and power. Rivals up and down the paddock felt Mercedes, chasing a sixth 1-2 finish in a row, would be hard to beat on the island circuit.
2013 Canadian winner Sebastian Vettel said: "We have always struggled a little bit here. Our approach in the past was not to be fastest down the straights and we are probably a little bit down in terms of power still so it will be difficult to match the Mercedes power down the straights.
"We will try to do our best down the straights and better than the rest in the corners. We have reason to be confident but it could be a difficult weekend."
HEATED DIFFERENCES
One thing that could slow Mercedes is if the rivalry between the two Mercedes championship contenders gets out of hand after flaringin Monaco.
"If they hit each other it is good for us," said Vettel, who knows something of team rivalries having had heated differences with his former team mate Mark Webber. "If they take themselves out but they are clever enough not to, you can't rely on that. I think you shouldn't be at war with your team mate because it hurts the team atmosphere but you don't have to be best friends."
Hamilton again emphasised that he had cleared the air with Rosberg after a frosty and controversial Monaco GP. The Briton had suggested after qualifying for that race that Rosberg had deliberately run wide in the final seconds of qualifying, bringing out yellow warning flags and forcing him to slow when he might have gone faster than his team mate.
Hamilton lost the championship lead to Rosberg after the German ended his run of four wins in a row but took to Twitter to declare "fences mended". The tweet was accompanied by a link to a photograph of the two, on unicycles and smiling, from their teenage years.
FRIENDS AGAIN?
Hamilton said: "It's done and dusted and we look forward to working together to win the Constructors' championship. We spoke and then we individually spoke to the team and nothing has really changed.
"The team has done a great job of supporting us. It's full steam ahead - we had dinner with the team and things have never been better. We just go from strength to strength.
"People have ups and downs and this is no different from any other experience Nico and I have had in... God knows how many years we've been racing together. We move on, we're pushing forward.
"There's a long long way to go in the season - we're looking forward to the battle."
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2014 Canadian F1 GP weekend.