(Motorsport-Total.com) – Max Verstappen secured the last best time before qualifying for the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix on a wet track. The Red Bull driver lapped the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in 1:23.106 minutes in the third practice session and finished ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari/+0.291 seconds).
Carlos Sainz crashed in the last practice session before qualifying
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) was third, 1.377 seconds behind the best time for Verstappen. Fourth was surprisingly Kevin Magnussen (Haas / +1.609) in front of Carlos Sainz (Ferrari / +1.659), who crashed halfway through the session.
The Spaniard lost control of his Ferrari at Turn 1 after touching the white line and was only allowed to watch after that. In addition, the Spaniard is also threatened with a penalty because he had previously stood in the way of Alexander Albon.
The session started directly on a wet track, which is why the pilots only went out on the track on full rain tires for the first few minutes. No surprise: During the course of the session, in difficult conditions, drivers could often be seen off the track, especially in the last chicane.
While that’s not a big problem because of the run-off zone there, Yuki Tsunoda was a lot luckier. The Japanese spun at Turn 3 and just missed the wall. A few minutes later he spun again in turn 2.
Will Sainz get another penalty?
To make matters worse, the AlphaTauri pilot had already drawn Fernando Alonso’s anger. “Who’s the blind guy in the AlphaTauri?” The Spaniard radioed after Tsunoda got in his way in a scene in the hairpin.
A similar incident later happened between Albon and Sainz. “As always, just dangerous from the Ferrari. Every time,” said the Williams driver, who was held up in turn 13, annoyed. “He just stopped in the middle of the chicane,” said Albon.
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When that happened again shortly afterwards before the chicane, the Williams driver’s collar burst. “The stewards have to look at that now, it was the same guy again,” said Albon on the radio. Indeed, this time the commissioners intervened and announced an investigation for after the session.
“He could get away with it, or he could get three penalty spots on the starting line-up,” said Sky expert Martin Brundle. Sainz has to answer to the race stewards at 20:15 CEST.
Verstappen outclasses the competition
After around eight minutes in FT3, it was Alonso who was the first driver to open the intermediates. The green tire quickly became the tire of choice and the best time changed almost every minute, as is usual on a wet track.
At half-time in the session, Max Verstappen was leading with a 1:24.480. But the world champion was once again dissatisfied with his gear changes. “These downshifts are getting worse and worse with every lap,” he radioed – and set the best time shortly thereafter.
After almost half an hour, Sainz raised the red flag. “Sorry guys, I crashed,” he radioed after taking off in turn 1. While Sainz himself was fine, the Ferrari was badly damaged at the front and rear. A lot of work for the mechanics ahead of qualifying.
After an eight-minute break, the session was released again – and the Verstappen Gala began. The Dutchman continued to lower the best time with every lap and at one point was more than 1.5 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
What was going on at Mercedes?
The Mercedes drivers had problems. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell only finished 10th and 15th respectively because they struggled to heat up the intermediate tires. “Our tire didn’t work at all,” confirms Toto Wolff on ‘Sky’.
After the training, the intermediate was “not even scratched on the surface”. “It means we just don’t have a temperature [im Reifen]”, said the team boss, who announced that he wanted to adjust the set-up again. Mercedes had previously finished Friday in the dry with a double best time.
“Grip is very bad,” Hamilton reported on the radio on the track and explained a good ten minutes before the end of the session: “I’m coming in, that’s a waste of time.” Because the rain increased again in the final minutes, so that there were no more improvements.
The top 10 completed in front of Hamilton Pierre Gasly (Alpine / +1.719), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin / +1.838), Tsunoda (+1.849) and Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo / +1.882). The Finn had a small problem at the end. “My right rearview mirror is hanging, it’s about to fly off,” he radioed, but made it back to the pits.
Ferrari the biggest Red Bull opponent in qualifying?
Nico Hülkenberg (Haas/+2.034) was eleventh and was able to drive significantly more than on Friday when engine damage stopped him. Another disappointment, meanwhile, was Sergio Perez. The Red Bull driver couldn’t get past P17 and was 2.751 seconds slower than his team-mate at the front.
Meanwhile, Christian Horner sees Ferrari as the biggest opponent in qualifying, which will probably also take place in wet conditions. “Your car looks competitive here,” said the Red Bull team boss at ‘Sky’. An assessment shared by expert Jenson Button.
“I think Ferrari will be Red Bull [im Qualifying] challenge,” said the world champion from 2009. Specifically, Leclerc will probably be a danger for the Bulls, “because Carlos stuck the car in the wall, which definitely affects your self-confidence before qualifying,” said Button.
“This is Formula 1, these are world-class drivers. You can’t make mistakes like that,” Brundle also criticized the Spaniard. After all: He assumes that Ferrari can repair the car in time for qualifying.
Where can I watch the Canadian Grand Prix live on TV?
There is a six-hour time difference between Montreal and Munich. This means that qualifying and the race will take place at prime time for Germany. (To the detailed TV schedule for Canada!) In Germany, the Canadian Grand Prix can be seen exclusively on the pay-TV provider Sky. Sky recently showed the race in Barcelona on YouTube for free. This is not planned for Montreal.
Qualifying begins on Saturday at 10:00 p.m. German time. Sky starts the preliminary reporting at 9:30 p.m. (with expert Ralf Schumacher, among others). The start time for the race is on Sunday evening at 8 p.m. German time. The preliminary reports on Sky start at 6:30 p.m. (AD: Not a Sky customer yet, but keen to see the Canadian Grand Prix live? Then get the WOW streaming service now and watch Formula 1 on Sky without a receiver!)
If you are not a Sky customer but still want detailed analyzes of all days of the race weekend, you can visit the Formel1.de YouTube channel (Subscribe to the channel now for free!) in good hands. At 3:00 a.m. Kevin Scheuren and Christian Nimmervoll report with the daily F1 show (or the next morning in the re-live for breakfast).