Alonso beats Gasly and Vettel in wet final F1 practice in Canada

Fernando Alonso continued his impressive start to the Canadian Grand Prix F1 weekend by topping the timesheets in a wet final practice.
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso

Alonso exchanged top times with former F1 title rival Sebastian Vettel throughout the final 60 minutes of practice running at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The Aston Martin driver held the advantage on the full wet tyre - Pirelli’s extreme weather option - the preferred choice at the start of the session.

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Vettel’s 1m35.821s put him clear at the top of the timesheets as, like Alonso, the German was in fine form throughout the three practice sessions in Montreal.

With the Red Bull and Ferrari spending the majority of the session in the garage, the aforementioned duo continued to duel it out for top spot, a throwback to their battles in 2010 and 2012.

Alonso was the first driver to switch onto the intermediates and quickly stormed to the top of the timesheets.

With a wet qualifying ahead, the track was busier towards the end of the session as the teams gathered useful data but Alonso’s 1m33.836s remained the top time.

Vettel was 0.055s off but was beaten by Pierre Gasly at the death - the AlphaTauri driver was 0.053s shy.

Esteban Ocon completed the top four, making it two Alpines in the top four, just over a tenth off the pace.

Next up were the two McLarens, Daniel Ricciardo ahead of Lando Norris, while George Russell was on seventh on the wets.

George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W13. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 9, Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal, Canada,
George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W13. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd…

Mercedes opted against using the intermediates during FP3 with Lewis Hamilton down in 15th, also on the wet tyre.

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen spent the majority of the session in the garage, leaving their running to the final 10 minutes.

Perez was narrowly ahead of his teammate, with the Dutchman spinning at Turn 2 in the final five minutes. 

Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10 ahead of Alfa Romeo duo Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou.

Charles Leclerc didn’t set a time with the Ferrari driver set to start from the back of the grid regardless of where he qualifies later after taking more engine components. 

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