Lewis Hamilton is seen in the garage during the Canadian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton took top spot in FP3 for the Canadian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen second as Mercedes showed a turn of speed over one lap at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
In the top five positions, George Russell secured third place, followed by Lance Stroll in fourth and Oscar Piastri in fifth. However, Hamilton maintained a gap of 0.374s to Verstappen. Demonstrating his expertise with seven previous victories in Montréal, the Mercedes driver showcased impressive speed. Meanwhile, the reigning World Champion, who encountered ERS issues on Friday, managed to secure second place for Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton tops FP3 as Canadian GP qualifying prep ramps up
Following the varied weather conditions that hindered the drivers’ performance on Friday, the third practice session in Montreal commenced under completely dry conditions on Saturday. The drivers wasted no time and immediately hit the track for the final hour of practice.
Max Verstappen, on his first flying lap, suffered a snap of oversteer into the final chicane and hopped over the kerbs, dubbing the steering on his Red Bull “super weird for me” afterwards.
During FP1 on Friday, Zhou Guanyu experienced a collision with the wall. As he approached Turn 1, his Sauber locked up at the rear, causing him to spin and slide in reverse into the barrier at the entrance to Turn 2. This incident resulted in the red flags being waved, leading to a temporary halt in the session after six minutes.
Zhou’s car was quickly extracted and returned to the pit lane, causing only a short pause. The rest of the field swiftly resumed their FP3 programmes.
This weekend, the drivers pushed the boundaries in typical conditions, and Alex Albon experienced a brake issue causing him to run onto the grass at the chicane of Turns 8 and 9.
A 1:14.870 from Fernando Alonso on hard tyres topped the timings in the first 20 minutes, improving by four tenths to a 1:14.445 as the drivers looked to make up for lost time, after the rain hindered their running on Friday.
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Teams were opting for a divided strategy during free practice. Ferrari made it clear during FP3 that they were going for a split approach, with Carlos Sainz using soft tyres and Charles Leclerc using mediums. On the other hand, Red Bull focused on longer-run pace, while their sister team RB prioritized qualifying pace.
Williams took the lead as Logan Sargeant dominated the first and second sectors, securing a purple time. He then clinched the top spot with a remarkable time of 1:14.355. Despite his best efforts on soft tires, Sainz fell short of surpassing Sargeant’s impressive performance.
The American’s brief stint at the top of the leaderboard was short-lived, as George Russell swiftly surpassed Sargeant when other drivers started switching to soft tyres.
Lewis Hamilton dominated the one-lap runs in a series of quick laps, securing the top spot with a time of 1:13.464. He managed to edge out Lando Norris by a mere 0.011s as they entered the final phase of FP3. The drivers and teams were honing their skills and preparing for the upcoming qualifying session.
During the session, Alex Albon from Williams had his initial encounter with the Wall of Champions. Exiting Turn 14, his car’s suspension suffered damage due to a significant impact on the last curb, causing him to veer off track and graze the final wall. Despite the setback, he managed to continue, albeit at a reduced speed, and successfully returned his car to the pit lane.
Towards the end of the session, there were more flying laps, and Russell managed to surpass his Mercedes teammate Hamilton initially. However, Hamilton, the seven-time World Champion, ultimately outperformed everyone by going seven tenths faster, recording a time of 1:12.549.
As the FP3 session neared its end, competitors aimed to narrow the distance to Hamilton. While some overtook each other, Verstappen emerged as the closest contender, albeit within a mere four tenths of a second behind the Mercedes driver. This paved the way for an unpredictable qualifying session at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday.
Canadian Grand Prix 2024: FP3 classification
1 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes 1:12.549
2 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing +0.374
3 George RUSSELL Mercedes +0.408
4 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +0.477
5 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +0.717
6 Daniel RICCIARDO RB +0.730
7 Lando NORRIS McLaren +0.744
8 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +0.791
9 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +0.793
10 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +0.800
11 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas +0.890
12 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +1.021
13 Valtteri BOTTAS Kick Sauber +1.093
14 Logan SARGEANT Williams +1.114
15 Yuki TSUNODA RB +1.167
16 Pierre GASLY Alpine +1.188
17 Nico HULKENBERG Haas +1.228
18 Alexander ALBON Williams +1.331
19 Esteban OCON Alpine +1.526
20 ZHOU Guanyu Kick Sauber +6.107
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