Lewis Hamilton pleased his many supporters in the stands by setting the best time in the third and final free practice session.
The seven-time Canadian Grand Prix winner clocked the fastest lap of the day – and of the weekend so far – in 1min 12.549sec. His Mercedes teammate, Georges Russell, took third place, after finishing second in the second session the day before.
After struggling on Friday, reigning world champion Max Verstappen had a better fate, obtaining the second time, less than half a second behind Hamilton. The Red Bull rider, however, experienced technical problems for a second day in a row. This time he reported problems with handling on radio waves. He also came close to the “wall of champions” at the very end of the course, imitating Alexander Albon (Williams) who had done so a little earlier.
At Ferrari, Charles Leclerc (10e) and Carlos Sainz (12e) had an ordinary exit. “We are extremely slow,” lamented Leclerc.
For the second time in two days, Guanyu Zhou (Sauber) went off the track which shortened his session.
With practice completed, qualifying will begin at 4 p.m.