Norris leads tight top five in final Canada GP practice

Lando Norris bested Charles Leclerc and George Russell for the top spot in final practice after title leader Oscar Piastri crashed ahead of qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Norris, Leclerc and Russell were the only two drivers of the session to dip below 70 seconds, with the McLaren driver setting the benchmark at 1m11.799s during his qualifying simulation run on fresh softs.

Leclerc was just 0.078s slower but set his best time in the final minute of the session, when the track was at its fastest, though the Ferrari driver was using eight-lap-old soft tires for his attempt.

Russell was 0.151s slower, but the Mercedes driver failed to improve with his fresh set of softs. Instead he logged his best time on a set of scrubbed softs earlier in the hour, skewing the comparison.

Lewis Hamilton confirmed Ferrari’s competitiveness by slotting into fourth. The Briton was the first of the frontrunners to embark on a qualifying simulation around 45 minutes into the session, lapping 0.251s off the pace.

Max Verstappen made it four constructors in the top five, taking his Red Bull Racing car to within 0.273s off Norris. The Dutchman, who had been optimistic on Friday night, complained of understeer throughout the lap as well as of a recurring lack of feeling from his brakes.

Fernando Alonso was even more disgruntled in sixth. Despite being 0.448s off the pace, the Spaniard described his Aston Martin as “impossible to drive” and lacking rear grip.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli couldn’t string together a clean lap with his fresh set of softs, leaving him seventh and 0.549s off the pace but ahead of Piastri, who was eighth and 0.72s down. The Australian tapped the "wall of champions" exiting the final chicane in the first half of the hour, breaking his rear-right wheel rim and puncturing the tire as well as causing a brief red flag to clean up debris.

He limped back to pit lane but rejoined surprisingly quickly, having appeared to get away without suspension or gearbox damage, but was notably cautious with his follow-up laps, leaving him off the pace.

Williams teammates Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon completed the top 10 closely matched just beyond 0.7s off the pace.

Isack Hadjar was 11th ahead of Pierre Gasly, Liam Lawson and Lance Stroll.

Oliver Bearman was 15th for Haas after fishtailing out of the final chicane and banging the barrier with his rear-right wheel, though he appeared to escape without damage, ending the session ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon.

Franco Colapinto was 17th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg – who miraculously avoided a crash after spinning in the final chicane – Gabriel Bortoleto and Yuki Tsunoda.

Tsunoda completed just 14 laps, the fewest of any driver, his car having been on jacks for much of the session for work on his front brakes. Bortoleto and Tsunoda will both see the stewards for red flag infringements after the session.