What a difference a day makes. After Friday practice took place in dry conditions, for the final free practice session for the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix teams battled difficult conditions. It was basically a completely different track, very wet and it was therefore very important whether teams could get temperature in the tyres, especially taking into consideration the fact that there are no high-speed corners at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
For a third week in a row, the softest three compounds (C5, C4 and C3) have been made available to the teams. However, with the terrible weather conditions, inters and wets were also available and all teams were given an extra set of intermediate tyres for this session.
The action was therefore under way on a very wet track, as the Haas cars and the Alfa Romeos were the first out of the pits. The Ferrari cars of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were the next to go out on track, as the Monegasque driver had a bit of a moment on his opening lap but escaped without trouble.
On the track, ww then got a first Red Bull sighting, as Sergio Perez was out there on an exploratory mission. Regarding the early timesheet, Yuki Tsuonda is currently fastest for AlphaTauri, ahead Sebastian Vettel in second. The Aston Martin driver produced a strong display in P2 on Friday and is another driver who may fancy the wet conditions. Carlos Sainz then went fastest and improved by another second on his next lap. That time, a 1:35.858, moved him more than two seconds clear of Valtteri Bottas in second, but to put that in context, Max Verstappen’s fastest time in FP2 yesterday was a 1:14.127.
As we moved over the halfway point in this session, there were still a number of drivers who had not set a time including Mercedes, both Red Bull cars and Charles Leclerc. With conditions being so challenging, these teams were perhaps looking to minimise risk and bide their time. With 15 minutes to go until the end of the final practice session, we have a new name at the top of the timesheet as Sebastian Vettel narrowly bettered Carlos Sainz’s time. He’s been impressive all weekend in that Aston Martin.
Meanwhile, the Mercedes had set some lap times. George Russell was fifth and Lewis Hamilton was eighth. Fernando Alonso then switched to intermediates and immediately benefitted: he set successive fastest laps to open a 1.3s gap over Lance Stroll in second. Carlos Sainz, who was also out on track on the inters, did not seem to be benefitting in the same way as his compatriot.
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Charles Leclerc did two installation laps and was then back in the garage, as Ferrari were testing that everything was working properly with the new power unit.
Sebastian Vettel, also on the inters, edged ahead of Fernando Alonso’s fastest lap: he’s moved +0.338 ahead of the Alpine driver with a 1:33.891, while Max Verstappen still didn’t set a time and abandoned his latest run. He went straight back into the pits after getting out of sorts at turn nine. But the Spanish driver was also enjoying himself in these conditions and he was back at the top of the timesheet, 0.05s quicker than Sebastian. George Russell was still on wet tyres and showed that they can do the job too: h went third, 0.6s back from Fernando Alonso’s leading effort, while his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was on intermediates, but only down in 13th.
With just a few minutes to go, luck was once again on Max Verstappen’s side: he lost control and spun at Turn 2, but stopped just short of the barrier. That wouldn’t have been ideal for the Red Bull mechanics with qualifying just a couple of hours away!
The chequered flag was out at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – and the conditions have given us a very jumbled order with Fernando Alonso at the top of the timesheet in his Alpine, ahead of Pierre Gasly, Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Ocon.
Practice 3 – Top 10 on timesheet
1) Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
2) Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
3) Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
4) Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
5) Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
6) Lando Norris (McLaren)
7) George Russell (Mercedes)
8) Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
9) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
10) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
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