Canada, FP3: Vettel heads Ferrari 1-2 in final practice

A MGU-K failure for Lance Stroll

By Franck Drui

8 June 2019 - 18:12
Canada, FP3: Vettel heads Ferrari (...)

Sebastian Vettel led the way in the final practice for the Canadian Grand Prix beating Charles Leclerc to the top of the timesheet by 0.139s as Ferrari claimed the top two spots ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

After a slow start to the session, the Ferrari drivers quickly moved to the top of the times when the action properly got underway after some 20 minutes.

Leclerc initially took control with a time of 1:11.596 but Vettel then edged past that with a lap of 1:11.557.

Hamilton and Bottas held third and fourth places in this phase of the session, with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly lined up behind them. However, while the leading cars set their times on the soft compound Pirelli tyres, the Red Bull pair spent the early part of the session on medium tyres.

There was trouble for local favourite Lance Stroll during the opening half hour. As the Racing Point driver approached the final chicane, a pall of smoke and a bust of flame appeared from the back of his car. He quickly changed course and headed for the pit entrance.

He stopped the car and a MGU-K failure was quickly diagnosed. The issue kept the Canadian driver in the pits for the remainder of the session.

There was trouble as well for Lando Norris, with the McLaren driver being placed under investigation for rejoining from the wrong side of the bollards in the final chicane after he had taken too much kerb on entry and missed the corner.

With 20 minutes remaining in the session, Bottas moved to the front of the order with the Mercedes man setting a time of 1:11.531 on new soft tyres.

His stay at the top didn’t last long, however.

Leclerc made a significant step forward with a time of 1:11.058s and then lowered the benchmark again with a time of 1:10.982s but Vettel again edged his young team-mate with a final time of 1:10.843, just under a tenth of his own absolute track record at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, set during last year’s Q3 session.

Neither Mercedes driver could threaten the Ferrari’s drivers grip on the top two places and Hamilton had to settle for third, 0.393s behind Vettel and 0.295s ahead of Bottas.

The true pace of the Red Bulls was again hard to judge as Max Verstappen was hampered on his quali sim and managed a time 1:11.842, +0.999 to Vettel. Team-mate Pierre Gasly 0.072 behind his team-mate in P6.

Seventh place in the session went to Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the Australian setting a time of 1:12.045 to 1.202 off the pace. Apart from his earlier trip across the chicane McLaren’s Norris enjoyed a good session, finishing in P8, a tenth behind Ricciardo. Sergio Perez was ninth for Racing Point with Daniil Kvyat in P10 for Scuderia Toro Rosso

Pos.DriverCarTimeLaps
01 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari SF90 1:10.843 91
02 Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF90 1:10.982 17
03 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes W10 1:11.236 20
04 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes W10 1:11.531 19
05 Max Verstappen Red Bull Honda RB15 1:11.842 15
06 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Honda RB15 1:11.914 19
07 Daniel Ricciardo Renault RS19 1:12.045 16
08 Lando Norris McLaren Renault MCL34 1:12.154 17
09 Sergio Pérez Racing Point Mercedes RP19 1:12.175 17
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1:12.298 23
11 Nico Hülkenberg Renault RS19 1:12.305 17
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari VF-19 1:12.337 17
13 Carlos Sainz McLaren Renault MCL34 1:12.399 21
14 Alex Albon Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1:12.423 20
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Ferrari C38 1:12.627 24
16 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Ferrari C38 1:12.708 19
17 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari VF-19 1:13.197 11
18 George Russell Williams Mercedes FW42 1:13.966 17
19 Robert Kubica Williams Mercedes FW42 1:14.426 24
20 Lance Stroll Racing Point Mercedes RP19 -:—.--- 1

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