Montreal, FP3: Ferrari in charge in final practice

Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two in final practice for the Canadian Grand Prix with the Drivers’ Championship leader finishing just under three tenths clear of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. Lewis Hamilton was third for Mercedes 0.354s adrift of top spot.

The early pace in the session was made by Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the Australian straight into the action in a bid to make up for time lost in FP2 due to an engine issue.

However, Vettel was soon in control and on ultrasoft tyres he quickly worked his way down to a time of 1:13.015 to head the session at the halfway point.

Behind him Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen were running supersofts to good effect, with the Mercedes driver sitting in P2, half a second behind Vettel at the half-hour mark.

Verstappen, who after yesterday’s gearbox issue didn’t make an FP3 appearance until 25 minutes had elapsed, was third with a time of 1:13.763. Raikkonen was at that point in seventh place and asking to revert to the settings that on Friday had taken him to the top of the FP2 timesheet.

When he returned to the fray after a halt for fresh ultrasofts, the Finn swiftly moved up the order, slotting into P2 behind Vettel and just two thousandths of a second off his team-mate.

Vettel though was readying for his next run and he soon became the first man to dip below the 1:13s barrier with a lap of 1:12.704. Then, with just over 20 minutes remaining he lowed the benchmark further, lapping in 1:12.572, a time good enough to keep him at the top of the timesheet until the flag fell.

Behind him Raikkonen also improved, eventually ending the session with a best time of 1:12.864, 0.292 behind Vettel.

Hamilton then moved to the ultra soft tyres and after encountering traffic eventually got a clear lap to take third place, half a second off Vettel. He found more time on the next tour but only enough to get to 0.354 behind his title rival.

Verstappen’s spell on ultrasofts in the second half of the session was also positive, with the Dutchman getting to within four tenths of P1 with a lap of 1:12.965. Team-mate Ricciardo was by far the busiest man on the track, logging 35 laps and finishing in P8 as he made up for lost time.

Behind Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas took fifth place in the second Mercedes, just over two tenths of a second behind team-mate Hamilton, while Nico Hulkenberg took his Renault to P6. Felipe Massa continued Williams good work so far this weekend by finishing in P7 with a time of 1:13.527 that him just under a second behind the Ferraris. Local hopeful Lance Stroll had a less successful outing, ending the session in P18, 1.8s off the pace and almost a second behind team-mate Massa.

Ricciardo was the last man inside a second off Vettel’s time, with Esteban Ocon finishing +1.063 adrift of P1 and Carlos Sainz a further three hundredths of a second back in 10th place.