2024 Canadian Grand Prix: Hamilton Quickest in Final Practice

Lewis Hamilton topped Free Practice Three with an excellent lap that was almost four tenths quicker than Max Verstappen’s best effort, ahead of qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Due to an action packed Friday practice, with plenty of changeable conditions, the drivers were eager to get out on track quickly and get as many laps in ahead of the all important qualifying session later in the day. Most drivers ventured out on the medium tyres, and with 5 minutes gone, Pierre Gasly was leading the timesheets ahead of Esteban Ocon and Zhou Guanyu.

Straight after his lap to put him third, Zhou brought out a red flag for a second time after crashing out in Free Practice One. The Chinese driver span coming out on Turn One – he complained on the radio saying the rears were locking causing him to crash. Following the delay, the drivers got back out on track and Verstappen went top of the timesheets with a 1:15.495s.

Alex Albon had a trip off circuit with around fifteen minutes gone, with Verstappen still on top but Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo joining him in the top three. Alonso then went top of the times, on the hard compound tyre, going +0.112s ahead of Verstappen, who also improved his time further. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri then pushed themselves into the top five, with the Brit ahead of the Australian.

Norris moved himself into second, with a strong time in sector one especially. Ricciardo then replaced his former teammate in second, going +0.335s behind Alonso’s hard tyre time from earlier in the session. Logan Sargeant was the first driver to put on the soft compound tyres, and went top of the timesheets by less than a tenth. Carlos Sainz Jr. did his first lap on the softs, but it was only good enough for go third, behind the Aston Martin Armaco F1 Team of Alonso.

Photo: Zak Mauger

Sargeant wasn’t top of the timesheets for long, with a number of drivers starting their qualifying simulations. George Russell went top of the times, with a 1;14.279. Hamilton then went top of the times, with all of the drivers moving from the long runs to the qualifying simulations. Albon and Sargeant were flying high with twenty minutes to go – Albon in fourth, Sargeant in fifth.

Visa Cash App RB were showing some strong pace, Ricciardo himself into fourth, behind Leclerc while Yuki Tsunoda put himself in the top ten, although he did lockup going into Turn Ten.

The session then entered a lull, with just a few drivers out on track. One of those was Russell, who improved his time to go ahead of his teammate and top of the times.

Albon had a scary moment coming out of the chicane in sector three, hitting the wall of champions, but the Williams Racing managed to get his car back to the pitlane and avoid bringing out the red flag. With around ten minutes to go, almost everyone went back onto track for a second set of qualifying simulations. Verstappen went second momentarily, before Hamilton put seven tenths between himself and second place.

Ricciardo’s second qualifying simulation was good enough to get him ahead of Verstappen and into third, before being pushed down to fifth by Verstappen and Piastri. Hamilton’s time was looking impossible to beat, despite drivers improving their laps they couldn’t get close to the seven time world champion. Lance Stroll went second fastest, but still over five tenths behind Hamilton, before Russell went second and again still quite a margin behind his teammate.

Sargeant nearly had a big crash due to a McLaren going slowly on the racing line. The final racing action of the session saw Verstappen replace Russell in second, but still almost four tenths behind Hamilton.

After the chequered flag was waved, Hamilton had a big gap at the front, ahead of Verstappen and his teammate, Russell, in the top three. Stroll and Piastri were behind in fourth and fifth, while it was a promising session for Ricciardo, who ended the session in sixth.

Norris and Alonso were in seventh and eighth, while it was a tough session for Sergio Pérez ending in ninth. Leclerc finished in tenth, which will worry Scuderia Ferrari, especially with Sainz also down in twelfth. Kevin Magnussen split the Ferrari’s, as the lead MoneyGram Haas F1 Team car, with Nico Hülkenberg down in seventeenth. Valtteri Bottas was the quickest Stake F1 Kick Sauber, with Zhou bottom of the times after his smash into the barriers.

Sargeant, Tsunoda and Gasly followed, with Albon and Esteban Ocon in eighteenth and nineteenth.

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