Norris finds form as Piastri fumbles final practice

Lando Norris finally found his groove in final practice at the Canadian Grand Prix, topping the timesheets as teammate Oscar Piastri struggled to get comfortable ahead of an all-important Qualifying showdown.

Not a single engine fired up as FP3 began in Montreal, with teams keeping their cars in the garage as track conditions failed to lure anyone out for more than an install lap at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Needing to make up time after losing the majority of FP1 and all of FP2 due to his costly crash during first practice, Charles Leclerc finally left his garage after ten minutes of hesitancy, setting his first time on the medium tyre and inspiring his competitors to follow suit shortly after. 

The Monegasque wasn’t alone in his early efforts, however, with Franco Colapinto also circulating ahead of the field and nearly giving his team a heart attack when he came ever-so-close to clipping into the infamous ‘Wall of Champions’. 

The unforgiving final corner claimed two victims just moments later, with Nico Hulkenberg performing a risky pirouette as he brushed the wall with both his front and rear wings.

The other was Oscar Piastri, who locked in his first official flying lap of the day after spending almost a third of the hour hiding away in the comfort of the McLaren garage, instantly at a one-tenth deficit to his teammate.

The split of new components between McLaren drivers was still present in Montreal, with the #81 running the old suspension set-up while Lando Norris continued to trial the team’s latest upgrade.

Grateful for that being the case, the championship leader soon found himself bouncing off the kerb at the final corner, making heavy contact with the ‘Wall of Champions’ to earn himself an instant rear puncture as the Australian limped back to the pitlane, the cause for a mid-session Red Flag to clear the subsequent debris. 

The team checked Piastri’s car over before he rejoined the session with under 25 minutes on the clock, fighting his McLaren through the final chicane before jumping into P5.

Piastri fell to eighth place in what was a timid session for the Australian, unable to promote himself further when his final run dropped off following a personal best first sector.

As a result, Piastri heads into Qualifying on the backfoot, with his time of 1:12.519s leaving him in P8.

Liam Lawson also tested the waters, venturing out for a few exploratory laps before kicking off his FP3 program after 20 minutes of patience.

On the soft compound tyre, Lawson initially slotted into eleventh-fastest with a time of 1:13.830s, before he made his way into the top ten when the session resumed after the brief Red Flag. 

The Kiwi remained on track after setting his then-fastest time of the session, working his soft tyres to the bone as he acquainted himself with the C6 compound around the unfamiliar layout.

Stopping for a brief reset and a quick tyre change, Lawson rejoined FP3 with the mission of reinstating his place within the top ten — and that he did, recording a time of 1:12.791s which was just over a tenth slower than his teammate.

That lap remained Lawson’s quickest of the hour as he settled into a rhythm on track, however, dropping down the order to P13 when the chequered flag waved.

As for the rest of the field, the #16 Ferrari remained at the top of the order for the first half of the session, holding a benchmark of 1:12.843s after completing a total of ten laps.

Leclerc was soon accompanied by Lando Norris, who then towered over the Ferrari driver’s time by almost half a second as the field picked up the pace.

Max Verstappen’s Friday complaints flowed into Saturday’s running as he informed the Red Bull pit wall that his RB21 was lacking bite and grip around the 4.36km circuit, leaving the Dutchman on the fringes of the top three.

Also on the border — however, this time on the border of the rule book — Fernando Alonso forced Ollie Bearman to dart onto the grass on the run to the final chicane as he failed to spot the Haas rookie on the racing line, gaining the Stewards’ attention as the incident was quickly noted.

Minutes later, Bearman came close to ending his own session as he slammed into the ‘Wall of Champions’, however, thankfully making contact with the earlier tyre barriers as opposed to the unforgiving concrete structure. 

Isack Hadjar found himself facing the wrong way at Turn 2 when he experienced a near-identical moment as Colapinto during both sessions yesterday, spinning to right himself before kicking off the final third of the session.

More rookie shenanigans left the field frustrated as Colapinto failed to use his mirrors through Turn 4, holding up Lewis Hamilton and his Alpine teammate, with both drivers sending frustrated waves and words the Argentine driver’s way.

Both Gabriel Bortoleto and Yuki Tsunoda were noted for Red Flag infringements, with their respective breaches set to be investigated after the chequered flag.

On the timesheets, Norris had over a tenth of leeway to the Mercedes driver in second, trying his best to extend that margin as he rounded the first sector with a purple sector to his name, however, dropping off as the lap fell away from him. 

In the dying stages of FP3, Leclerc came within seven hundredths of stealing the final hour of practice from Norris, condemning his “too many mistakes” across the lap for the minor deficit that wedged him between the two Mercedes-powered rivals as the chequered flag waved. 

Less than three-tenths separate the top five drivers heading to Qualifying, with Ferrari being the only team to have both drivers within that tight-knit realm as the field completed their final practice starts on the grid.

The all-important hour shootout to set the starting order will kick off at 06:00 AEST, with the packed Canadian grandstands buzzing with excitement for pole position.

Image: Formula 1

Free Practice 3 Results:

2025 Canadian Grand Prix Schedule (AEST):

Saturday, June 14th:

FP1: 03:30 – 04:30

FP2: 07:00 – 08:00

Sunday, June 15th:

FP3: 02:30 – 03:30

Qualifying: 06:00 – 07:00

Monday, June 16th:

Race: 04:00

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