F1 Canadian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying
All of Saturday's action from the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix
F1 returns to the famous Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal this weekend for the first time since 2019, following two years of COVID-19 enforced cancellations.
Max Verstappen emerged victorious at last weekend's Azerbaijan GP as the Dutchman headed a Red Bull 1-2, as mechanical frailties struck Ferrari and title contender Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen, who topped both practice sessions on Friday, heads to Canada with a 21-point championship lead over team-mate Sergio Perez, while Leclerc is third having slipped 34 points adrift.
Fernando Alonso led FP3 on Saturday, topping a wet session from Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won the most recent Canadian Grand Prix in 2019.
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If Vettel was to join the top of the charts club with his sixth this afternoon, it'd go down very well with the fans we feel.
The all-time most poles in Canada are Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, tied on six, with Sebastian Vettel just a smidge back on five.
One thing that can be predicted is where Leclerc will start the Canadian GP. He's got a full-fat back of the grid penalty for an engine change. So the driver with the most poles this year with six, and four in a row coming into this weekend, won't start on pole.
This qualifying session won't be one to miss, and if the shaken up FP3 order is anything to go by, trying to predict how this one will unfold is a tough ask.
So, how about this for a fun Saturday night: F1, Canadian GP, qualifying, Montreal and rain.
And we'll see you in a little bit for qualifying, which also promises similar mixed conditions to the final practice session. See you then!
Breaking news
Here's the report from a rather wet FP3 session in Canada: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-canadian-gp-alonso-leads-wet-fp3-from-gasly-and-vettel/10324622/
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And that's your lot - Alonso, Gasly and Vettel are your top three for FP3.
But Ocon gets P3 back on the next tour, but that's once again taken away as Gasly gets second place - moving Vettel and Ocon down a place.
Checkered flag
Ocon goes up to P3 towards the end of the session, but Ricciardo overlaps him as the chequered flag comes out.
"This is not the right tyre for us," Latifi says, referring to the intermediates. Meanwhile, Verstappen's basically done what Magnussen did at Turn 1/2 a couple of minutes ago. He's facing the right way now.
Gasly moves up to P4, behind Alonso, Vettel and Russell, as Zhou pops into sixth.
The replays show Magnussen making his own circuit here. "What happened there," he says, as he just cut Turn 1 and popped it into the grass. Sainz, meanwhile, visits the Turn 3 exit road.
Green flag
Five minutes to go, any more improvements?
Yellow flag
Yellow flag - Magnussen's gone off at Turn 2 at a weird angle. He's reversing out, so no damage.
Ricciardo got into P4 for a short while, before Russell swiped that position away from him on the wet tyre.
Stopwatch
Alonso bangs in a 1m33.836s to resume his P1-liness.
With a lot more takers for the intermediate tyre, I'd wager there might be a few more changes in P1 before the session ends in the next nine and a bit minutes...
Stopwatch
P2 for Stroll on the inters now, but that's immediately put in the shadow by Vettel's 1m33.891s.
Stopwatch
And then Alonso punches in a 1m34.229s on inters, as he looks like a paragon of confidence on those tyres.
Magnussen now goes up to second, with a 1m35.643s. Sainz, on inters, usurps the Dane by a tenth.
Stopwatch
Alonso now posts a 1m34.836s on inters, finding almost a full second over Vettel's benchmark.
Vettel's on the inters too. Magnussen is back out on wets, and shuffles up to seventh.
Vettel looked like he would extend his advantage, but shipped a bit of time in the final sector. Alonso's doing some exploration on the intermediate tyre.
Stopwatch
Vettel on top now, getting 0.037s over Sainz for a 1m35.821s. Hamilton goes sixth briefly, before Stroll pops up to fifth.
That's now third for Russell, who grabs a 1m36.388s to move up the order. Tsunoda's done the most laps of anyone with 15 on the board.
Ocon now goes up to P4, as Russell moves up to ninth. Verstappen, meanwhile, does two laps and then returns to the pits.
I like the Duracell-coloured rollhoop on the Williams - we saw that in Miami too. Surprised we've never had a battery-themed Formula E car, however...
Gasly moves up to third, as Ocon assumes sixth ahead of Tsunoda. Russell's on track and now begins a lap.
Alonso now goes P2, on a 1m36.074s. That's two men from Spain on top in the rain.
And indeed, Verstappen is climbing aboard his Red Bull to have a look-see in the rain.
Just Max Verstappen and George Russell have yet to brave the wet. Alonso moves up to P6 with his first crack at a lap, with Gasly going P9.
Stopwatch
Sainz has brought the times down to a 1m35.858s, for the record.
Finally, eh? Latifi gets on track with the two Alpines, Pierre Gasly, and Alex Albon. I think I Oxford comma'd that right...
"Twice in a row and three times total Tsunoda’s decided not to bother with Turn 2. Huge cheers from the crowd that he made it this time."
Stopwatch
Sainz now goes to the top with a 1m36.831s.
Breaking news
So for those who haven't heard, Leclerc's going to start from the back of the grid as he'll take more new power unit parts. Full story here.
Stroll got pole at a similarly wet Turkish GP in 2020, so you can't rule him out if qualifying is also in distinctly moist conditions.
Stopwatch
Bottas, a veteran of slippery conditions having done a few rallies in his time, does a 1m37.909s to go top. Stroll goes into P2, also a dab hand on a wet track.
By: autosport.com
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