Lewis Hamilton led free practice three with a 1:12.549. Behind him were Max Verstappen and teammate George Russell.
Two disrupted and wet sessions meant drivers were desperate to get out in the last practice session of the weekend. To the delight of teams and drivers, the session was dry. Allowing all the drivers to get the much needed data round the Gilles Villneuve Circuit.
Thursday saw Norris top FP1 in a shortened session and Alonso top FP2 in the mixed conditions. Max Verstappen was one driver who was looking to prove himself in FP3 after only doing four laps in FP2 because of an ERS issue.
With all still to play for, and the order of the pack still unclear, FP3 got underway.
The First Times on the Board
As expected, Max Verstappen was the first driver to head out on track. After losing 35 minutes of the session on Thursday, this session in the dry was vital for the Red Bull.
Most teams opted for the Medium tyres, with a newly tarmacked track teams will need to gauge the degradation.
Pierre Gasly put in the fastest first lap with a 1:15.412, Pérez and Zhou Guanyu followed. However, the Stake car then ended up in the wall, losing the rear and hitting the barrier, beached in the grass. A red flag was called.
This was the second red flag Zhou Guanyu had caused in Canada. Currently, he is without a seat for 2025, mistakes and accidents like these hinder his campaign for a 2025 drive.
Green Flags Waved
The cars headed back out on track, still running on the medium tyres. Verstappen went out and did a fastest lap of a 1:15.495. Piastri and Leclerc were a second and a half off of the Red Bull pace. However, with different run plans for each team, the times are not hugely representative.
Despite the dry conditions the track is still a tricky circuit. Alex Albon took a run through the grass, after he complained about the brakes on his Williams.
Fernando Alonso, on hard tyres, put in a 1:14.870, The track was getting faster as rubber was being put down. The Spaniard seemed comfortable on the Canadian track as he went for another lap with 3 purple sectors and a 1:14.445.
Aston Martin hasn’t had the run of form they wanted so far this season, falling away from the podium fights they saw in 2023. However, on low fuel runs in FP3 and the mixed conditions of FP2, they seem to be strong.
The Mercedes and Ferrari both choose to do high fuel race simulations on the first part of the practice sessions. Their times were in the 1:17s on the medium tyres.
Daniel Ricciardo, who claimed his maiden victory in F1 in Montréal back in 2014, put himself second with a 1:14.780. His teammate Tsunoda was also doing well in seventh.
The Second Half of Running
Logan Sargeant and Carlos Sainz were the first drivers to head out on the softest compound tyres. Sargeant went quickest, with a 1:14.355 and Sainz went third with a 1:14.514.
George Russell became the next driver to head out on the red-lined tyres, 2 purple sectors and a 1:14.279 on the board.
Charles Leclerc showed that Alex Albon and Williams weren’t the only team struggling with braking. He took a wide run and taking to the radio to complain about pulling on the brakes.
More drivers headed out on the soft compound, beginning to get a feel for the qualifying runs for later this afternoon. Charles Leclerc did a 1:13.581. However, it was short-lived as Hamilton did a 1:13.464, and Norris slotted in between with a 1:13.475.
The Williams duo seemed to be more comfortable on the soft compound tyres, putting the cars in fifth and sixth with a 1:13.880 and 1:13.892.
Final Ten Minutes
With just over ten minutes remaining, the drivers headed out for some final runs.
Unfortunately for Alex Albon, he hit the kerb and brushed the Wall of Champions. The damage led to him limping back to the pits due to the damage.
Finally sporting the new front wings, both Mercedes put in impressive qualifying runs. Lewis Hamilton goes seventh tenths up on his teammate, breaking into the 1:12s with a 1:12.549.
Lewis Hamilton has seven wins around the Gille Villeneuve Circuit. He seemed comfortable in the wet as he has proved it before. However, the front wing seemed to be doing its job in the dry with the impressive time coming from the British champion.
The Red Bulls finally put on the red marked tyres, but they were only fast enough for fourth and ninth in their first runs. However, Verstappen put his RB20 second on his next run, but he was still six tenths off of Lewis Hamilton.
The Ferraris, who came into the weekend as the favourites, seemed to struggle on the qualifying runs, only going 10th and 12th fastest.
Verstappen managed to get 0.374 seconds within Hamilton’s time. It wasn’t enough to get ahead.
The Chequered flag waved Hamilton ends the session on top with a 1:12.549, Verstappen behind with a 1:12.923 and Russell third with a 1:12.957.
Qualifying is up next, but with rain still a possibility, anything could happen.
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