Lewis Hamilton tops third practice session at Canadian F1 Grand Prix

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain drives his car to the hairpin during the third practice session, Saturday, June 8, 2024 at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. (Jacques Boissinot, The Canadian Press)

Britain's Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the third and final practice session for Saturday's Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix.

On Friday, the drivers had to deal with a wet track during both sessions.

They had run for just five minutes on soft rubber in the first session, and 30 minutes in the second.

The teams were finally able to run for an hour on a dry track on Saturday, as the clouds finally gave way to sunshine over the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.

Mercedes' Hamilton set a lap time of 1 minute 12.549 seconds. Three-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen (1:12.923) followed in second place, while fellow Mercedes driver George Russell (1:12.957) completed the top three.

Aston Martin's Quebec driver Lance Stroll was fourth with a time of 1:13.026, while team-mate Fernando Alonso was eighth with a time of 1:13.340.

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll, of Canada, comes in for a pit stop during the third practice session at the Canadian Grand Prix Saturday, June 8, 2024 in Montreal. (Ryan Remiorz, The Canadian Press)

The third practice session was interrupted for five minutes after Sauber's Guanyu Zhou lost control of his car and hit the wall exiting Turn 2.

Williams' Alex Albon and Verstappen also lightly kissed the 'Wall of Champions', but did not appear to suffer any major damage.

Qualifying starts at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The race starts at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 8, 2024.