Vettel ready for another battle at European GP

(GETTY IMAGES)

Sebastian Vettel believes he faces another "tricky weekend" as he looks to erase the memory of his last-lap mistake in Canada.

After leading the race in Montreal for almost its entirety, Vettel was just three kilometres from his sixth win of the season when he ran wide, allowing Jenson Button through for victory.

The reigning world champion was naturally aggrieved with himself at his error, yet still departed the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with an increase in his title lead which stands at 60 points over Button.

Assessing what unfolded in Canada, Vettel said: "It was a very long race, plenty of opportunity to do a mistake or get something wrong.

"In the end I made a mistake half a lap from the end and straight after I was a little disappointed and angry because the win was so close.

"In hindsight we did a very good job. We finished second, with very good points.

"We are here to win the championship. Some of the drivers didn't finish at all, so it could have been worse."

From the 23-year-old German's perspective there will now be a need to get back on track in this weekend's European Grand Prix around the Valencia street circuit.

Vettel, who won at the same venue last season, added: "We cannot afford to approach the race and just try to do our job.

"We always have to push as hard as we can, to get the maximum out of ourselves and optimise our results.

"Here I think it will be a tricky weekend for us, the track usually is difficult.

"But looking back we've had a very competitive car in qualifying and race conditions everywhere so far, and that makes us reasonably confident here.

"Canada should not really have suited us, but we had a very good day and put the car on pole, so we will see what we can do here."

Vettel's error, though, has fuelled belief amongst his rivals he can crack if put under pressure.

However, team principal Christian Horner feels Vettel has already shown his mettle on numerous occasions this year.

Horner said: "In the two races prior to Canada he pretty much spent the entire grand prix with somebody staring down his rear exhaust.

"The pressure he absorbed, in particular in Monaco, was phenomenal.

"In Montreal, at that stage of the race and in those conditions, Jenson was very, very quick.

"Sebastian had been massively quick in other parts of the race, but the pace car had kept backing him up.

"He, as a racer, was very keen to win that race. He gave his all, made a small mistake and finished second.

"It would have been much easier for him to take a more conservative approach, but he was still fighting for the win."