The third free practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal was not representative due to heavy rain. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) secured the fastest time of 1:33.836 minutes. It’s quite possible that it will also rain in qualifying at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. However, the chance of rain will decrease towards the evening.
The big issue on Saturday morning in Montreal was not the third practice session, but Charles Leclerc’s engine penalty. Already on Friday Ferrari had pulled the fourth control electronics of the season and thus settled down ten grid positions. Now it is certain: All components will be exchanged. So Leclerc has to be the last to start on Sunday.
Not much was driven on the completely rain-soaked track. The risk of fender bender so close to qualifying was too great. “On the other hand, you also need the kilometers. If that’s the case afterwards, you need the experience,” says ‘Sky’ expert Ralf Schumacher.
Vettel and Alonso drive away from the field
In the last ten minutes of the session, the fastest times were set on intermediates, after only the full wets had been used before that. At times there was an exchange of blows at the top between Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) and Alonso (Alpine) – just like in the good old days. Vettel (3rd) was ultimately only 0.055 seconds slower.
A curious situation occurred when Kevin Magnussen (Haas) braked at the start and finish, drove straight ahead and crossed the track after the Senna-S. When pushing back from the grass, the coming cars had to be careful to avoid a collision.
Why the Haas slipped out like that remains a mystery: “What happened there?” Magnussen asked himself on the pit radio. Shortly thereafter, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) had a similar mishap in the same place. With the world champion, however, it was a classic spin in the Senna-S.
Mick Schumacher did not make any major mistakes in difficult conditions. He ended up 18th, 3.552s off the leader and 1.745s off Magnussen. He did 18 laps. The most diligent was Yuki Tsunoda (17th/AlphaTauri) with 27 laps.