F1 LIVE | Follow the final free practice session for the 2024 Canadian GP

F1 LIVE | FP3: Canadian Grand Prix

This weekend marks the ninth round of the 2024 World Championship. At the moment, Red Bull racing sit at the top of the Constructors table, but the title fight is beginning to pick up the pace, with Ferrari being just 24 points behind the Austrian team. Whilst it looked set in Bahrain to be another flying season for Red Bull, the competition has caught up with them in recent weeks, and has seen four different race winners across the past eight races. It seems a battle is likely to be on the cards for this season. This weekend in Montreal will provide another insight into this. 

In addition to Ferrari, McLaren has also been able to close the gap between the top teams, as they sit third in the table. Since the Chinese Grand Prix, the British team has consecutively appeared on the podium, with Lando Norris securing his first career win in Miami. It is clear that the gaps are closing in, with Norris finishing just seven-tenths of a second behind Max Verstappen in Imola the weekend after. In Monaco, neither Red Bull driver featured on the podium, and instead we saw Charles Leclerc winning his home race for the first time, alongside Oscar Piastri, and Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz. 

How did Friday's free practice sessions go? 

Although Friday's first session might have started on time, the pit exit remained closed for the drivers. This was due to the heavy rain and hail in Montreal. In the end, the drivers were able to have around 40 minutes to test their cars. Initially, they appeared with wet tyres, with Lewis Hamilton being first out on track. Over time, the track did begin to dry, and drivers were able to move to both intermediate and soft tyres. During the session, a red flag was called after Zhou Gunayu's car slid into the barrier, causing too much damage for the driver to continue in the session. At the end, Lando Norris topped the table with the quickest lap, followed by Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. 

In Friday's second session, drivers were quick to rush out with the imminent threat of rain. It was a poor start for Ferrari when Charles Leclerc was sent out on the wrong tyres. The FIA had not declared the circuit wet when he was using intermediates. As a result, the team and Leclerc were placed under investigation by the FIA. Max Verstappen also faced significant problems when he smelt smoke from his car and jumped out quickly when he went back into the garage. It was confirmed he had an ERS fault. With rain intensifying, times set early on in the session were hard to beat, and in the end Fernando Alonso topped the wet session. George Russell and Lance Stroll rounded out the top three.