Lando Norris topped the final practice session for the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix as McLaren appear to have sorted out their earlier car issues.
But while Norris was the fastest driver in FP3, teammate Oscar Piastri continued to struggled as he was lucky to escape some serious damage having tapped the Wall of Champions early in the session but got away with a puncture only.
Charles Leclerc bounced back after missing both practice sessions on Friday and was second fastest in his rebuilt Ferrari, less than a tenth off the pace.
George Russell's strong form continued and ended the session third fastest a tenth and a have off the pace of Norris.
Lewis Hamilton came next, fourth fastest in the second Ferrari ahead of four-time Formula 1 champion, Max Verstappen who was fifth, 0.273s off the best time.
Fernando Alonso ended FP3 a strong sixth in the Aston Martin with Kimi Antonelli behind him is seventh while Piastri struggled to eighth.
Williams' Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were ninth and tenth respectively.
Qualifying should be interesting given how close the top three are, while Verstappen - despite being almost three tenths off the pace - should surely find some pace when the good gets going.
The Medium and Soft Pirelli compounds are offering an interesting challenge for the teams given how close they are which will be something to look out for in qualifying.
Buildup towards FP3
Mercedes emerged as the team to beat after Friday's running in Montreal with Russell topping the second practice session as the W16 was in its element in the cooler temperatures.
McLaren, who were supposedly the favorites coming into this weekend, struggled to get going on the opening day of running as they sampled new parts on their MCL39, a new front wing and suspension. They did some back-to-back comparisons across both Friday sessions as Norris seemed to close the gap to the top in FP2.
Verstappen started well but then dropped back on Friday's second session but Red Bull are known to find gains overnight while they run their power units on lower settings on Friday which makes a difference around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
But the one who had a disastrous start to his Canadian weekend was Leclerc, who crashed in FP1, but then had to miss FP2 as it emerged that the accident damaged his chassis which is not what Ferrari would want on a weekend when there are wild speculations about the future of the team and its boss, Fred Vasseur.
The tyre situation is something to look out for as well, as the C6 tyre continues to confuse the teams with Russell posting his best time on Friday on the C5 (Medium) and not the softest compound.
FP3 Session Highlights
The session started in clear conditions but temperatures were a bit higher compared to Friday as the track temperature was 45 degrees Celsius, four more than yesterday while the ambient temperature was up to 20 degrees.
Norris will be running the new suspension on his MCL39 while Piastri will not.
It was a sow start to the session and then Franco Colapinto kicked off the action as he was the first to take his Alpine out on track as others remained in their garages. Both Aston Martins went out on tyre-scrubbing out laps.
The Leclerc, who had a lot of lost running time to make up started his run on the Medium tyres and went to the top of the timing screens immediately.
But then Alonso, Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon dropped him to fourth as the track continued to evolve.
Colapinto, on the other hand, almost met with the wall at Turn 14 - the wall of champions - as his Alpine snapped but he managed to save it.
An actual champion, Alonso, had to go straight at the same chicane and complained about rear grip.
But then Piastri was not that lucky, as he tapped the Wall of Champions with his rear right tyre and suffered from a puncture and a damaged rim while soon after Nico Hulkenberg spun at the same place his rear and front wings shaving the Wall.
The session was red-flagged after that as Piastri limped back to the pits for checkup.
The session was resumed with less than 34 minutes on the clock as drivers lined up in the pits eager to get back out on track as soon after the activity on the track ramped up.
Then Albon went off at Turn 8/9 chicane, going through the grass and reporting that his car is changing all the time.
Verstappen on the other hand was not happy with the brake material explaining that he is still lacking "bite".
After that Bearman brushed the Wall of Champions but got away with it then Isack Hadjar brought out a Yellow flag as he spun at Turn 2.
But then Bearman went closer to the wall at Turn 14 and tapped it with his rear right tyre but survived it and kept going.
A bit later, Pierre Gasly, on a flier, reached Turn 8 with Hamilton and Colapinto ahead of him. He wasn't happy and neither was Hamilton with the Argentine.
Verstappen was not happy with his RB21, revealing there was no grip and that he was sliding all four wheels. Leclerc as also not happy with himself as he radioed reporting the many mistakes he made.
Alonso on the other hand reported his car was impossible to drive despite being sixth fastest.
The session ended with practice starts.
Canadian GP FP3 Classification
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