#F1 #CanadianGP FP3: @LandoNorris pips @CharlesLeclerc by 0.078s.

Norris Canadian GP FP3 – McLaren’s Lando Norris ended final practice on top of the time-sheets at the Canadian GP ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc whilst Mercedes’ George Russell rounded out the top three.

Norris posted the session-topping effort of a 1:11.799 on the C6 softer compounds and was a narrow 0.078 seconds clear of Leclerc whilst Russell was a further 0.151 adrift in third.

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was the first driver to emerge with five minutes on the clock and on the softer tyres followed by home favourite Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin who missed the majority of yesterday’s FP2 session after suffering a shunt early in that session. The Canadian along with his team-mate Fernando Alonso were on the C4 white-marked harder rubber.

Colapinto was the first to register an effort with a 1:15.366 as Alonso and Stroll returned to the pits.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was next to come out on track with a fresh set of C5 yellow-branded mediums after missing out nearly all of FP1 and the whole of FP2 after his heavy crash and chassis change.

The Monegasque driver moved to the head of the times with a 1:15.004 effort to go 0.362 seconds clear of Colapinto.

Haas’s Oliver Bearman was next as the Briton with two purples in sectors one and three went to the top with a 1:14.831 whilst his team-mate Esteban Ocon also on mediums, slotted into fourth whilst Colapinto jumped to third.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took P1 on his flying effort with a 1:14.424 to be 0.407 seconds clear of Bearman.

Replays showed Colapinto suffer a snap of over-steer at the Wall of Champions, luckily avoiding the wall with 46 minutes left on the clock.

Leclerc then reclaimed P1 with his 1:14.104 flying lap, this was short-lived as Alonso knocked the Ferrari driver off top spot with a 1:13.050, whilst Stroll then moved into second place to be 0.438 adrift of his team-mate.

Bearman, Ocon and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto all then slotted into third, fourth and fifth respectively after the opening quarter mark of proceedings. With the top five all on a mix of soft and medium compounds.

Leclerc then re-took P1 posting a 1:12.843 on his medium tyre stint whilst Piastri put his McLaren fourth and was 0.789 seconds off the Monegasque drivers’ benchmark.

Bearman then moved back up into third with three personal bests to be 0.525 off Leclerc’s effort.

Stroll then improved to third as Norris then put his MCL39 racer sixth and Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton slotted into seventh.

McLaren’s Piastri with 40 minutes remaining hit the famous “Wall of Champions” on his next flying tour after clipping the kerb at the final chicane.

Replays showed the Australian took an even bigger whack to the wall with his rear right and suffered a puncture with debris scattered over the track at the “Wall of Champions”.

Hamilton slotted into third place just before the red flag to be 0.302 seconds adrift of his leading team-mate at the seven-time world champion set a purple middle sector on his fifth tour on the C5 mediums.

Replays also showed Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg a lap earlier, suffered a spin at the “Wall of Champions” as his rear wing tapped the wall on the pirouette.

The red flag was brought out to clear the debris left behind from the McLaren as Piastri managed to make his way back to the pits.

With 33 minutes remaining, the session resumed as the track was cleared of the debris with the two Mercedes of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli emerging along with Norris and Hamilton.

Russell moved to P4 with his soft tyre run to be 0.315 seconds off Leclerc whilst Antonelli went to just P13 and 1.140 seconds adrift on his initial flyer on the C6 compound.

Norris planted his McLaren second to be 0.137 seconds off as reigning world champion Max Verstappen slotted into P9 whilst RB’s Isack Hadjar jumped to sixth on his C6 soft tyre effort.

The other RB of Lawson on his soft tyre stint moved into P10 behind Verstappen and was 0.601 off Leclerc’s effort as the session approached the 35^th minute mark.

Verstappen was next slotting into second whilst Norris then jumped to P1 with a 1:12.375 to be 0.428 seconds clear of Leclerc.

Russell then demoted Norris into P2 with his 1:12.329 on the softer compound to go quickest on the time-sheets.

Hadjar then moved into fifth to be 0.660 seconds off Russell’s benchmark with the former continuing his C6 tyre stint.

Norris was unable to improve on his next flyer as Verstappen then jumped to P3 and be 0.141 seconds off Russell on his soft tyre run.

Hamilton was up next with two purples in then moved up into P1 with a 1:12.279 to go 0.050 seconds clear of Russell.

Replays showed Hadjar suffer a spin out of turn two with 21 minutes remaining as Russell reclaimed P1 with a 1:11.950 to be 0.329 seconds ahead of Hamilton as the Briton was the first driver to be in the 1:11’s bracket.

Williams’ Alexander Albon slotted into P6, pipping Bearman down into seventh on his qualifying simulation run.

The other FW47 entry of Carlos Sainz jumped his team-mate to P6 to be 0.569 adrift of Russell’s benchmark as the Spaniard set the exact identical lap-time to fifth-placed Piastri.

Hamilton with a purple sector one then improved to be 0.100 seconds off Russell as Norris pipped the Mercedes driver with his 1:11.799 to go 0.151 seconds quicker.

Replays then showed Bearman suffer a slide out of the final corner as the Briton hit the “Wall of Champions” with his rear right.

Verstappen with three personal bests on his soft tyre hot-lap remained in fourth place and was 0.411 seconds behind Norris’s benchmark with ten minutes remaining.

Replays showed traffic impediments as Colapinto blocked Hamilton and then both done the same to Gasly.

Leclerc slotted into P5 and was over half-a-second off Norris’s effort.

Alonso was next as he bumped Leclerc to sixth with his 1:12.247 flyer whilst Norris was unable to improve on his next hot-lap.

Verstappen then slightly improved his time but remained in fourth place to go 0.329 seconds of Norris’s benchmark.

Leclerc was next with a purple sector one and two personal bests to be just 0.078 seconds off Norris’s session-topping lap-time as the former’s team-mate Hamilton improved to P4.

Verstappen ended the session P5 and in-front of Alonso who took sixth and Antonelli who placed seventh in his Silver Arrow.

The other MCL39 entry of Piastri finished FP3 in eighth whilst the two Williams of Sainz and Albon completed the top ten.

Both Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto are currently under investigation by the race stewards for a red flag infringement.

You can see the full Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix Du Canada 2025 Free Practice 3 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/races/1263/canada/practice/3

2025 F1 World Championship Standings