Lando Norris topped the final practice session for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Canadian Prix, but the McLaren driver was pushed hard by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who recovered from his FP1 crash and a missed Friday to finish just 0.078s behind the Briton. Third place in the session went to last year’s Montréal polesitter, Mercedes’ George Russell 

After a quiet start to the session, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto got things underway with a 1:15.366, set on Soft tyres. 

Charles Leclerc, looking to bounce back from the FP1 crash that ruled him out of most of the opening session and all of FP2, was also on track early and the Monegasque driver took top spot with his first flyer of 1:15.004, set on Medium tyres. 

The Ferrari driver was swiftly ousted by Haas’ Ollie Bearman and then Alpine’s Pierre Gasly but Leclerc returned to P1 with a lap of 1:14.104 and with a comfort zone reached on the Montréal track, the Ferrari driver put clear distance between himself and his rivals with a lap of 1:12.843. 

With a little over 20 minutes on the clock the session was red-flagged. Championship leader Oscar Piastri took a little too much kerb in the final chicane and the McLaren driver clunked the ‘Wall of Champions’ with the rear right of his car. The impact caused a puncture and appeared to damage the wheel rim and though the Australian was able to limp back to the pit lane, the red flags were shown to allow marshal on track to clear debris at Turn 14. 

When the action resumed Piastri’s McLaren team-mate Lando Norris climbed to second with a lap of 1:12.980, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton took P4. Max Verstappen also appeared for the first time and the Red Bull driver jumped from the foot of the table to top spot to P8 with a lap of 1:13.442. 

The Dutchman found more time on his next flyer, rising to third place with a lap of 1:12.857, but Norris then pushed the leaders back a place as he moved half a second clear of Leclerc with a Soft-tyre lap of 1:12.375. 

Norris’ stay in P1 was brief, however, as George Russell put his Mercedes to top spot with a lap of 1:12.329. The Briton was also unable to hold onto P1 for long as his former Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton put his Ferrari in P1 with a lap of 1:12.279. 

Russell was winding up the pace and with a trio of purple sectors he climbed to the top as the first man below 1m12s, with a tour of 1:11.960. Norris was also improving, though, and with 12 minutes left in the session he took P1 with a lap of 1:11.799. 

There were few improvements in the final minutes of the session. Verstappen improved to 1:13.210 and then shave another two tenths off his time to post a best time of 1:12.072, but the Dutch dropped back to fifth at the end of the session as Leclerc at last found his groove and thanks to a purple first sector he posted a strong lap of 1:11.877 to take P2, just 0.078s off Norris who held on to P1 with his earlier time. 

Russell finished third ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen. Fernando Alonso finished sixth but complained that his Aston Martin was “undriveable”. Kimi Antonello took P7 in the second Mercedes, while Piastri was left with P8 ahead of Williams drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon. 

Outside the top ten, Yuki Tsunoda spent much of the session in the Red Bull garage with his team working on his front brakes, but when the Japanese driver returned to the action he couldn’t rise from the bottom of the order and was also placed under investigation for a potential infringement under the early red flag. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3 
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:11.799 24 218.660
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.877 0.078 29 218.423
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:11.950 0.151 20 218.201
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:12.050 0.251 26 217.898
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:12.072 0.273 20 217.832
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:12.247 0.448 21 217.304
7 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:12.348 0.549 21 217.001
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:12.519 0.720 18 216.489
9 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:12.519 0.720 22 216.489
10 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:12.573 0.774 22 216.328
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:12.651 0.852 22 216.096
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:12.684 0.885 27 215.998
13 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:12.791 0.992 27 215.680
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:12.794 0.995 28 215.671
15 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:12.825 1.026 27 215.579
16 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:12.827 1.028 22 215.573
17 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:13.060 1.261 27 214.886
18 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:13.072 1.273 19 214.851
19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:13.172 1.373 22 214.557
20 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:13.573 1.774 14 213.388