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May 22nd
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Vettel set to keep gearbox for Valencia

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Sebastian Vettel is set to be given the all-clear by Red Bull Racing to use the same gearbox as he used in Canada for the European Grand Prix this weekend, despite the unit picking up a minor issue late-on in the Montreal race.

The gearbox used by Vettel in Montreal was a new unit, after he retired in Turkey following a clash with his team mate Mark Webber, but the German's pace was hindered in the second half of the Canadian race when the team found a fault in it.

Vettel completed the race without losing any further places from his 4th position he was in when the issue developed, but after Webber took a grid drop penalty in the same event in order to change a faulty gearbox unit, the team feared Vettel might suffer further problems this weekend.

Webber took the change after an oil check detected metal fragments in the liquid, a sign of a potential breakage in the unit.

But team principal Christian Horner confirmed that it was "unlikely" that Vettel would suffer any problems, though did concede the team were still giving the car some final checks.

"We are conducting final analysis, but it looks unlikely that there will be a gearbox change," Horner was quoted as saying by Autosport.

Meanwhile, the team also confirmed that they would give their F-duct design a second trial at the European GP weekend, with the device potentially being used in the race if their practice runs show no problems.

"We will evaluate [the F-duct] on Friday and then make a decision as to whether we race with it or not," a Red Bull spokeswoman told the media.

The F-duct is likely to be a big benefit again this weekend at the Valencia track, and Red Bull are keen to get their design into competition after being outperformed by the McLaren team around the similarly F-duct friendly Canadian track.