Lewis Hamilton tops final practice for Canadian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets during the final practice ahead of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton dominated Free Practice 3 with an impressive lap that was about four tenths faster than Max Verstappen’s fastest time ahead of qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix.

The grid was focused on collecting data ahead of the qualifying session following a challenging first day at the Canadian Grand Prix, where drivers lost a significant amount of track time due to the rainy conditions.

Just six minutes after the action began, Kick Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu span between Turns 1 and 2 and the session was red-flagged. The Chinese driver drifted out onto the grass slowly and was unable to continue his runs. The session resumed with fifty minutes remaining after his damaged Kick Sauber was immediately cleared.

Different drivers had different strategies to tackle the circuit, and some were keen to finish long fuel runs. The drivers from Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes were among those who were doing a race simulation.

Lewis Hamilton ultimately topped the leaderboard in the last practice with an incredibly impressive lap time of 1m12.549s, set during the qualifying simulations while his teammate George Russell finished third fastest overall, but came in more than four tenths of a second behind.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen finished second but found it challenging to maintain his pace on the softs. Nevertheless, a late push lap allowed him to close in on Hamilton. Lance Stroll impressed by finishing fourth on home soil for Aston Martin ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

RB driver Daniel Ricciardo secured his maiden Formula 1 win in Montreal exactly 10 years ago and he appears to be in excellent form this weekend as the Australian finished sixth fastest ahead Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez who came in seventh, eighth and ninth respectively.

Ferrari appeared incredibly slow during the first practice, despite their outstanding speed throughout the season. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz seemed to have trouble finding traction in the medium-speed turns, but the Scuderia proved to be very formidable down the straights. Ultimately, the Monegasque rounded out the top 10 while the Spaniard placed 12th.

In his Kick Sauber, Valtteri Bottas finished 13th, with Williams’ Logan Sargeant coming in a spot behind. RB’s Yuki Tsunoda outpaced Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly to finish the 15th fastest.

 Alexander Albon endured a chaotic session and finished down in 18th after his encounter with the barriers, which forced him to nurse his Williams back to the pits with clearly visible suspension damage. Outgoing Alpine driver Esteban Ocon and the sidelined Zhou brought finished at the bottom of the timesheets.

2024 F1 Canadian Grand Prix Free Practice 3 Results