Canadian GP: Norris fastest as Piastri crash triggers FP3 red flag
14 Jun 2025 6:40 PM
Lando Norris has ended Free Practice 3 or the Canadian Grand Prix fastest.
Lando Norris topped the final practice hour ahead of Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix as McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri tagged the wall to draw the red flag.
Norris narrowly headed Charles Leclerc and George Russell while Piastri lost time after he tagged the wall exiting the final corner, damaging his wheel with the resultant debris, triggering the only stoppage in the session.
Advantage Lando Norris as Oscar Piastri hits Wall of Champions
Aston Martin began proceedings with both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll on track in the early minutes, the pair scrubbing a set of tyres.
It marked Stroll’s return to the track following an early crash in Free Practice 2 on Friday that left him sidelined for much of that session.
Charles Leclerc was also out early in his rebuilt Ferrari.
An opening practice crash for the Monegasque driver saw the Scuderia building up the spare chassis, which, as mandated by the regulations, prevented him from taking part in Free Practice 2.
On the medium tyres, the early laps were therefore important as he worked both to reacclimatise himself with the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but also to validate the work performed by the mechanics.
Leclerc was fastest after the opening 10 minutes of running, his 1:12.843 leaving him just over two-tenths clear of Alonso.
The Spaniard had complained of a lack of rear grip as he skated through the run-off at the final chicane.
Oscar Piastri went one step worse, brushing the Wall of Champions on exit after bouncing off the exit kerb and being pushed wide.
The impact appeared to break the rim of the McLaren, puncturing the right-rear tyre in the process as debris littered the circuit to trigger the red flag.
Piastri’s moment following Nico Hulkenberg spinning at the final corner, brushing both the rear and front wings but otherwise getting away with the moment.
The resumption triggered a flurry of activity with Lando Norris out on the medium rubber in his McLaren, and Max Verstappen on the softs in his Red Bull.
Norris rose to second fastest, while Verstappen was eighth best – the Dutchman slipping to ninth when Isack Hadjar banked the sixth fastest time on a set of soft tyres, making the Frenchman the leading Red Bull-back driver to that point.
At Williams, Alex Albon ran off the road a Turn 8, reporting that the car felt different front his previous run as he bounced over the grass and re-joined.
With 25 minutes remaining, George Russell moved to the top of the timesheets with a 1:12.329, his soft tyre effort proving 0.046 quicker than the improved effort courtesy of Norris.
Soon after, Piastri re-joined the session, McLaren was satisfied his car was safe for the Australian to continue.
A moment between Alonso and Oliver Bearman caught the eye of officials after the Haas driver looked to be squeezed by the Aston Martin driver on approach to the final chicane.
Bearman was tucked up behind Norris as Alonso held off line to allow the McLaren through before moving towards the line in preparation for his own lap.
The Haas driver, tucked up behind Norris, jinked right himself before diving in the pits in an incident that could have been significantly worse.
Still on the medium tyres, Russell extended his advantage at the top of the standings with 20 minutes remaining, heading Lewis Hamilton who was also on the yellow-walled rubber.
Hadjar blotted his copybook with a spin at Turn 2 to briefly draw the yellow flags, the Racing Bulls driver recovering his car and carrying on without further incident.
With a quarter of the session to run, Bearman mirrored Piastri’s earlier mistake as the back end of his car stepped out at the final chicane.
He clouted the outside barrier, luckily impacting the Tec-Pro barrier and no the concrete as Piastri had managed.
Qualifying simulations commenced with around 10 minutes remaining, Norris shooting to the top of the timesheets once he fitted the soft tyres, 0.15s better than Russell.
Seven-tenths away from his team-mate, Piastri sat fifth with a time on par with Carlos Sainz in the lead Williams.
At the foot of the timesheets was Yuki Tsunoda, who’d been sat in the garage for an extended time with work being carried out on his front brakes.
He stayed there with his first qualifying simulation effort, 1.774s off the pace of Norris, who was on track and going faster – at least through the first third of the lap.
Tsunoda was also under the attention of the stewards, who’d noted the Red Bull driver for a red flag infringement.
On a set of used soft tyres, Piastri failed to improve in the final moments of the session, ended up only eighth at the chequered flag.
Leclerc improved to second with an effort inside the final minute, the Ferrari driver just 0.078 to paint a picture of potentially four teams in contention for pole position.
That includes both Ferrari drivers, Norris, and Russell. Piastri appeared half a step behind his teammates, as did Antonelli to Russell.
Canadian GP: Free Practice 3 results
- Lando Norris, McLaren, 1:11.799
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +0.078
- George Russell, Mercedes, +0.151
- Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, +0.251
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull, +0.273
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, +0.448
- Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, +0.549
- Oscar Piastri, McLaren, +0.720
- Carlos Sainz, Williams, +0.720
- Alex Albon, Williams, +0.774
- Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls, +0.852
- Pierre Gasly, Alpine, +0.885
- Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, +0.992
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, +0.995
- Oliver Bearman, Haas, +1.026
- Esteban Ocon, Haas, +1.028
- Franco Colapinto, Alpine, +1.261
- Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, +1.273
- Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber, +1.373
- Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull, +1.774
