Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in Saturday’s final practice at the Canadian GP, the Mercedes charger edging Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and teammate George Russell in a highly disputed session.
Only 0.800s separated the top ten, a tight spread sparked excitement ahead of the day’s qualifying.
Behind the leading trio, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll – Montreal’s in-form local hero – concluded the fibal dress rehearsal fourth while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo completed the top six.
The queue at the end of the pitlane was made up of the vast majority of the field when the track went green, with just a pair of Haas still remaining in their garage.
Everyone was eager to kick into action give the return of clement weather over Montreal which promised 60 minutes of dry running.
However, just minutes into the session the red flag was brandished, and like yesterday the culprit was Sauber's Zhou Guanyu who spun on the exit of Turn 1 and tapped the outside wall, which required an intervention of the marshals and a quick clean-up.
The mishap was bad news for the Sauber team which was suddenly deprived of a chance to collect important data ahead of qualifying and for Sunday’s race, and after Friday’s limited dry running.
When the session resumed, Verstappen set the first significant benchmark, with the medium tyre the rubber of choice for everyone. The Dutchman was followed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and yesterday’s pace setter, Fernando Alonso.
With grip still at a premium, it was clear that the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve had yet to properly rubber in, meaning that lap times were still relatively irrelevant.
Alonso upped the pace to jump to the front, although the F1 veteran had opted for the hard compound. RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Stroll lined up behind, with Norris and Verstappen following thereafter.
Sainz was the first taker of a run on the softs, presumably to indulge in a qualifying simulation, as did Williams’ Logan Sargeant who jumped to the top, surpassing Alonso’s best flyer.
But the American’s top spot was short-lived with Russell picking up the baton up ahead.
A flurry of drivers switched to the softs as qualifying sims were in order. Hamilton moved ahead from Norris, Leclerc, Ricciardo and Albon with regard to the top five.
Verstappen’s run on the red-rimmed rubber pushed the Red Bull driver up to second, while Russell overhauled his Mercedes teammate.
However, with ten minutes to go, Hamilton recouped the top spot with a 1m12.549s that left Russell 0.725 adrift, suggesting that the seven-time world champion had things nicely dialed in, including perhaps his engine.
As the session entered its final minutes, Verstappen seized the runner-up spot, the championship leader getting away with a tap of the Champions’ Wall on his final flyer.
Russell clocked in third, with local hero Stroll, Piastri and Ricciardo rounding off the top six.
The top eleven drivers were separated by just 0.890s but it was a low-key session overall for Ferrari with Leclerc and Sainz concluded final practice P10 and P12.
But all eyes will be on the skies and the radar maps ahead of qualifying with forecasts calling for a 50% chance of rain!
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