Formula 1

Everything that happened in final Montreal F1 practice

by Matt Beer
2 min read

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Max Verstappen was fastest in an increasingly wet final Canadian Grand Prix Formula 1 practice session ahead of what looks certain to be a rain-affected qualifying.


Key moments

* Track improves enough for intermediate running then rain worsens

* Sainz under investigation for impeding and crashes too

* Verstappen consistently fastest


Early wet-tyre running soon gave way to intermediate-tyre times, but in the final 10 minutes the rain increased significantly again and everyone headed back to the pits. The conditions are forecast to be much the same for qualifying later today.

Usually that would be considered the recipe for an upset, but runaway championship leader Verstappen consistently put himself on top in practice three whatever the level of rain – his wet-tyre times holding off the intermediate runners at first too and the Red Bull going 1.6s clear of the pack at one stage.

Charles Leclerc was Verstappen’s main rival, having a few spells in first place and ending up 0.291 seconds slower.

But his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz had a very troubled session. Two separate blocking incidents with Williams driver Alex Albon will be investigated after practice, and just after that was announced Sainz caused a 10-minute red flag by spinning on the way into Turn 1 and hitting the barriers with both ends of his car.

Plenty of drivers had less dramatic trips over the grass and run-off during the session, while Yuki Tsunoda had a complete spin between the walls without touching any of them.

Fernando Alonso was third fastest for Aston Martin, with Kevin Magnussen the main underdog star of the hour in fourth for Haas ahead of Sainz.

Friday pacesetter Mercedes had a low-key session, struggling for tyre temperature. Lewis Hamilton went 10th just as the rain intensified while George Russell ended up 15th.

Practice 3 Results

Pos Name Car Best Time Gap Leader
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1m13.664s
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1m13.914s +0.25s
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m14.072s +0.408s
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1m14.24s +0.576s
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Mercedes 1m14.264s +0.6s
6 George Russell Mercedes 1m14.278s +0.614s
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m14.353s +0.689s
8 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m14.36s +0.696s
9 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 1m14.659s +0.995s
10 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1m14.681s +1.017s
11 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m14.681s +1.017s
12 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 1m14.693s +1.029s
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Mercedes 1m14.756s +1.092s
14 Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 1m14.988s +1.324s
15 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.105s +1.441s
16 Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 1m15.266s +1.602s
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1m15.534s +1.87s
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1m15.841s +2.177s
19 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes 1m15.851s +2.187s
20 Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 1m16.529s +2.865s
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