F1 Canadian GP Live Commentary and Updates – FP3 & Qualifying
Saturday's action from the ninth round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Following Friday’s mixed conditions, all eyes will be on the weather to see how it will impact Saturday’s action.
Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on top during a dry FP3, with Max Verstappen and George Russell filling out the top three positions.
Qualifying starts at 9pm BST (4pm local time) in Montreal.
Live Text
If you weren't with us earlier - or yesterday - the on-track action has been interesting to say the least.
Rain washed out any representative running on Friday and, in FP3, Hamilton put Mercedes on top of the pile...
Whilst we were away from the livetext, another piece in the 2025 driver market jigsaw fell into place as RB confirmed Yuki Tsunoda would stay with the team!
Full story: RB announces Tsunoda to stay for F1 2025
Hello and welcome back to live coverage of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. Qualifying is just around the corner, who will take pole?
And with that, it is time to depart until qualifying. Until then, thank you for joining us and here is the full report as Hamilton laid a clear marker in Canada.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
The early assessment of Albon's damage from team principal James Vowles is that it was a rear tow arm which broke. Not the hardest of fixes, but one Williams would rather have not been faced with.
Other than Mercedes' pace, it is Aston Martin that perhaps provided the biggest surprise with Stroll fourth and Alonso - less surprisingly - eighth.
Top by 0.374s from Verstappen. FP3 was more than promising for Hamilton, on a track at which he is a specialist.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
If this was qualifying, Gasly, Hulkenberg, Albon, Ocon and Zhou would have been the Q1 exiters. Magnussen, Sainz, Bottas, Sargeant and Tsunoda would have departed in Q2.
There are plenty of questions to come from this session. Where has Mercedes' pace come from? Where has Ferrari's pace gone? How did Perez get a two-year deal when he's so far off Verstappen...again?
Verstappen into the Wall of Champions this time! He gives the wall a heavy tap with his right rear. No obvious damage but Red Bull will give a thorough once over.
The chequered flag is out.
"We are extremely slow." Leclerc has issued his damning assessment of Ferrari's pace. He is currently in P10.
Sargeant narrowly avoided a huge crash there as there was confusion when passing a slower McLaren. He immediately bails into the pits.
But now Russell makes it a 1-2, as Sainz is seen going extremely slowly along the pit straight. Replays show this came after he got a snap of oversteer through the final chicane.
The final hot laps are under way and Stroll has bettered Verstappen to go to P2. Perez, on the other hand, can manage only eighth.
We're into the final five minutes but it would take a brave person to bet against Hamilton getting pole, based on this performance!
Hold on, Verstappen has gone to second...but he is still 0.633s off of Hamilton's pace. Piastri is now third, with Russell dropping to fourth.
As Perez goes only ninth, one second off the pace, Albon returns to the pits and that is his session over.
Verstappen is complaining about his Red Bull bouncing around but no one is getting anywhere close to Hamilton.
Back to the top goes Hamilton who puts in a blistering 1m12.649s to go 0.725s clear of Russell. Verstappen was third, but has now been displaced further by Ricciardo!
The Wall of Champions has claimed its first victim of 2024, as Albon bounces off the kerbs and makes contact with the wall. There is evident suspension damage as he crabs back to the pits.
Russell goes fastest with a 1m13.274s. That's 0.190s faster than Hamilton but he has gone earlier than the rest, meaning others will enjoy better track conditions.
Currently in P9, Russell has gone early on his next soft tyre qualifying simulation.
P1 with 15 minutes left. Neither Red Bull driver has tried the soft rubber yet, but can Hamilton hold on to the top spot?
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
The track has gone quiet in preparation for the final hot laps of the session. 16 minutes remain on the clock and the clouds are getting darker. There could be some extra urgency here.
Following the early 1-2 for Alpine, Ocon and Gasly are now P15 and 16 - positions that would see them out in Q1 later today if they were repeated.
Looking away from the top of the order, Perez is currently second last, with only Zhou - who is out of the session - slower.
Norris drops into second, falling short by 0.011s only.
Norris is next up and goes purple in sector two, although Hamilton remains fastest in sector one.
But Leclerc immediately follows up with a better effort of his own, lowering the barrier by several tenths to 1m13.581s....and there's Hamilton, with a 1m13.464s! The times really are tumbling!
Albon will be next to complete his soft tyre run, and there are a fair amount of purple micro sectors. He goes fastest and is the first driver into the 1m13s, with a 1m13.975s.
It's now Russell at the top with a 1m14.279s. Only 0.076s faster than Sargeant though...
Interestingly, Sainz was unable to better Sargeant, and went only P3.
Soft tyres, and Sargeant launches his Williams to the top with a 1m14.355s. Now, we will begin to get a clearer picture.
Verstappen appears to be nearing the end of his long run on medium tyres. With 10 laps in the bank, his times are considerably off the best that we've seen so far.
As we say that, not only does Ricciardo pop up into second, but Alonso has lowered the top time to 1m14.445s.
As Norris climbs to second, it appears we are about to see some long runs before the final qualifying simulations. With Friday running extremely limited, there is a lot to be done during this hour.
For the first time this weekend, Stroll is up with Alonso, as he jumps up to P3. He is, however, 0.561s off team-mate Alonso.
Here come the McLarens. Norris and Piastri are P3 and 5, the pair split by a recent Magnussen time.
But Alonso remains at the top as Verstappen bails into the pitlane.
By: Autosport Staff
