Verstappen Wins the Canadian Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz is Invited to the Stewards After Crash, and Final Practice Is Hit by Rain
Following a lackluster effort on Friday, defending double world champion Max Verstappen improved to set the fastest marks in Saturday’s wet third and final free practice for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.291 seconds with a fastest lap time of one minute and 23.106 seconds. Leclerc had complained of “tricky” difficulties setting up his vehicle for the challenging Circuit Gilles Villeneuve bumps and barriers.
Aston Martin’s two-time champion Fernando Alonso finished third, although he lagged behind the leaders by 1.3 seconds, Kevin Magnussen of Haas, Carlos Sainz of the second Ferrari, and Pierre Gasly of Alpine.
Midway through the practice, Sainz crashed, crashing over the barriers at Turn One, although he was unharmed.
Local hero Lance Stroll finished eighth in the second Aston Martin, ahead of Mercedes’ seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, and Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo.
The whole field was in need of a clean session after Friday’s lengthy and delayed practice, but the foreboding low air temperature of about 14 degrees and the sopping wet track following heavy and persistent overnight rain further raised the possibility of additional mishaps.
The first driver for Haas was Nico Hulkenberg, who needed a run after blowing an engine in practice two. He set off on fully wet tires with a fresh power unit aboard, followed by Williams’ Logan Sargeant, Alonso, and Russell.
After being slowed down at the hairpin, Alonso quickly overtook the leaders in the timings and pulled in to switch to intermediates. He inquired, “Who is the blind guy in the Alpha Tauri?” Yuko Tsunoda was the solution.
The Japanese then finished first in 1:30.685 – a full 17 seconds slower than the top timings on Friday – after surviving a significant spin out of Turn Four without contacting the barriers.
Sainz’s accident
Verstappen subsequently grabbed the lead despite running on wet tires in 1:29.190, but was soon overtaken by Leclerc and then Hulkenberg as the timings dropped to 1:25.724 and Tsunoda spun once again at Turn Two.
Verstappen was definitely in the mood in the rain after his underwhelming performance on Friday and took the lead once again in 1:24.977 before Sainz wrecked his Ferrari at Turn One halfway through the hour.
Under braking, the Spaniard lost control of his vehicle, and the back end of his vehicle spun out, sending him into a wall and causing damage to both ends. Although he was unharmed, the session was flagged.
The action continued with Hamilton, Friday’s quickest driver, sliding off at Turn One into a run-off area to re-join at Turn Two after a seven-minute break.
Mercedes was obviously having trouble with tyre performance in the cooler conditions and was unable to produce temperatures.
“Grip is very poor,” Hamilton added. The response was, “Temps are everything.
With 12 minutes left and more, Verstappen pulled ahead of the field by 1.6 seconds with a lap in 1:23.106 as more rain swept over the track, forcing everyone back to the pits until the practice was over.
