Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2019

Vettel quickest as Ferrari lead Mercedes in final practice

2019 Canadian Grand Prix third practice

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Sebastian Vettel raised Ferrari hopes of keeping Mercedes from pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix by heading a one-two for the team in final practice.

The final exchange of lap times between red and silver cars saw Vettel trim the best time of the weekend so far to 1’10.843, within a tenth of a second of the pole position time and track record he established at the circuit 12 months ago.

Team mate Charles Leclerc kept him honest and found more immediate pace from the soft compound tyres. By the end of the session the pair were separated by just one tenth of a second and accounted for the quickest times in all three sectors, including the opening part of the lap where Mercedes had been especially strong on Friday.

Lewis Hamilton had to settle for the third-fastest time, almost four-tenths of a second off Vettel’s pace. Like Leclerc, he skidded off-track at the first corner during his final run.

The Red Bull pair took fifth and sixth behind Valtteri Bottas. Although Max Verstappen was consistently the quicker of the two RB15 drivers to get up to speed, Pierre Gasly eventually closed to within a tenth of his team mate.

Daniel Ricciardo led the midfield for Renault, but less the four tenths of a second covered the gap back to Alexander Albon in 14th place. Lando Norris was consistently quick in the McLaren and ended the session eighth, just two-hundredths of a second faster than Sergio Perez.

It was a mixed session for Racing Point. While Perez looked like a potential Q3 contender, Lance Stroll didn’t even get a lap time in. His car belched flame as he made for the pits with what the team described as a hydraulic problem.

Despite leaving their final runs until the chequered flag had dropped, the Alfa Romeo drivers could only managed the 15th and 16th fastest times. They were followed by Romain Grosjean, the Williams pair and the unfortunate Stroll.

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Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
15Sebastian VettelFerrari1’10.84319
216Charles LeclercFerrari1’10.9820.13917
344Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’11.2360.39320
477Valtteri BottasMercedes1’11.5310.68819
533Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda1’11.8420.99915
610Pierre GaslyRed Bull-Honda1’11.9141.07119
73Daniel RicciardoRenault1’12.0451.20216
84Lando NorrisMcLaren-Renault1’12.1541.31117
911Sergio PerezRacing Point-Mercedes1’12.1751.33217
1026Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Honda1’12.2981.45523
1127Nico HulkenbergRenault1’12.3051.46217
1220Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1’12.3371.49417
1355Carlos Sainz JnrMcLaren-Renault1’12.3991.55621
1423Alexander AlbonToro Rosso-Honda1’12.4231.58020
1599Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’12.6271.78424
167Kimi RaikkonenAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’12.7081.86519
178Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1’13.1972.35411
1863George RussellWilliams-Mercedes1’13.9663.12317
1988Robert KubicaWilliams-Mercedes1’14.4263.58324
2018Lance StrollRacing Point-Mercedes

Third practice visual gaps

Sebastian Vettel – 1’10.843

+0.139 Charles Leclerc – 1’10.982

+0.393 Lewis Hamilton – 1’11.236

+0.688 Valtteri Bottas – 1’11.531

+0.999 Max Verstappen – 1’11.842

+1.071 Pierre Gasly – 1’11.914

+1.202 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’12.045

+1.311 Lando Norris – 1’12.154

+1.332 Sergio Perez – 1’12.175

+1.455 Daniil Kvyat – 1’12.298

+1.462 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’12.305

+1.494 Kevin Magnussen – 1’12.337

+1.556 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’12.399

+1.580 Alexander Albon – 1’12.423

+1.784 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’12.627

+1.865 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’12.708

+2.354 Romain Grosjean – 1’13.197

+3.123 George Russell – 1’13.966

+3.583 Robert Kubica – 1’14.426

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

PosDriverCarFP1FP2FP3Fri/Sat diffTotal laps
1Sebastian VettelFerrari1’13.9051’12.2511’10.843-1.40885
2Charles LeclercFerrari1’13.7201’12.1771’10.982-1.19580
3Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’12.7671’12.9381’11.236-1.53159
4Valtteri BottasMercedes1’12.9141’12.3111’11.531-0.7890
5Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda1’13.7551’13.3881’11.842-1.54663
6Pierre GaslyRed Bull-Honda1’14.5701’13.3451’11.914-1.43184
7Daniel RicciardoRenault1’14.1231’13.0161’12.045-0.97187
8Lando NorrisMcLaren-Renault1’14.2461’13.2491’12.154-1.09588
9Sergio PerezRacing Point-Mercedes1’14.1721’13.0031’12.175-0.82887
10Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Honda1’15.3431’13.5211’12.298-1.22395
11Nico HulkenbergRenault1’14.4741’13.1681’12.305-0.86389
12Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1’14.2021’12.9351’12.337-0.59890
13Carlos Sainz JnrMcLaren-Renault1’13.9731’12.5531’12.399-0.154100
14Alexander AlbonToro Rosso-Honda1’14.7031’13.4361’12.423-1.013101
15Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’14.5821’14.8701’12.627-1.95557
16Kimi RaikkonenAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’13.9451’13.5421’12.708-0.83490
17Lance StrollRacing Point-Mercedes1’14.8121’13.17170
18Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1’14.6451’13.5981’13.197-0.40181
19George RussellWilliams-Mercedes1’15.9891’15.0361’13.966-1.0782
20Robert KubicaWilliams-Mercedes1’15.2871’14.426-0.86168

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2019 Canadian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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18 comments on “Vettel quickest as Ferrari lead Mercedes in final practice”

  1. I still expect another Mercedes front-row lockout.

    1. yes. the only question mark is the new PU. It went bang on Stroll, so unusual one cannot say coincidence.
      It triggers me how bias sky is, if it had been any other pu, they wouldnt have been so naive and protective of merc they took super defensive “hydraulic leak” as just an hydraulic leak, sure there’s an hydraulic leak when you have a hole on the pu, if ferrari had said something that lame theyd be roasted.

      1. Your paranoia is showing. Racing Point said it was a hydraulic leak. Sky merely reported what they were told.

  2. The Red Bull pair took fifth and sixth behind Valtteri Bottas. Although Max Verstappen was consistently the quicker of the two RB15 drivers to get up to speed, Pierre Gasly eventually closed to within a tenth of his team mate.

    Max was within a tenth at the end of sector 2 but got compromised by Lewis in sector 3. Unfortunately Gasly is still way behind

  3. Mercedes dominance comes to end… They need miracle to get the front row.

    1. Hamilton needs a miracle every week it seems… and lo, he gets it! What suspense! What drama!

      He hangs out with his Hollywood chums too much..

      1. Has to find some way to give his empty championships a bit of meaning, I suppose.

    2. @mysticus its the plot of another new avengers movie, out every fortnight

      1. They may reveal the infinity stone at the end but we don’t know for sure if they will be worthy of it :)

  4. Hm, seems Binotto is doing a Toto to Sky @mysticus, so I suppose that proves Ferrari will indeed nail the front row then!
    Hm, or was he just realistic and will it be a Mercedes front row, eh, yeah.

  5. I wish wish wish that Seb and Charlie would take the front row, but my sensible head says that Merc will lock it out again once they turn on the new engine for proper.

    So I shall pray for a Bottas Pole with aid from either the Grounhogs or some other crazy stuff to create a mixed field behind him I think.

    1. It shall be Ferrari 1-2..Mark my words..and stop pouring pessimistic words regarding Ferrari.Just watch out.Mercedes comes to an end

  6. How painful is this to see Williams 3 seconds off the pace on a power circuit and with a new front suspension. They look spiralling downwards more than ever.

  7. Whoa – Mercedes just confirmed that Strolls blow up was the new engine!
    Scary for Mercedes engined teams?

    1. Except they didn’t…
      and not really scary.

      1. Ahhhh – my bad then.
        That will teach me to read the BBC.

  8. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    8th June 2019, 17:36

    Okay, well I’m going to take a gamble and go for a Ferrari pole position. Hopefully this weekend they’ll hook it all up and we’ll have a really sharp fight at the front, as I still believe the Merc is the better car. Both slower Ferrari’s ahead, fighting each other while trying to hold off the quicker Mercs bickering over the championship would be a pretty cool race.

    Better than the Mercedes uncontested 1-2 that is probably going to happen… but yeah. Dreams.

    1. Itz gonna be Ferrari 1-2 for sure.Just watch out

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