Alonso tops final practice in wet conditions at the Canadian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso  led the final free practice session in wet conditions at the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal in Canada.

Pierre Gasly finished in second position, just 0.053 seconds slower than the Spanish driver. Sebastian Vettel finished in third position at the end of the session.

Charles Leclerc will start at the back of the grid in the race due to power unit penalties. The Scuderia Ferrari driver will be joined by Yuki Tsunoda at the back of the grid due to an engine change.

The third and final free practice session of the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montréal started in cold and damp conditions with air temperatures at 11 degrees C and track temperatures at 16 degrees C.

The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C3), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C4), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C5), the softest range of compounds in the Pirelli tyre range.

In the wet conditions, the teams were given an extra set of intermediate tyres. The drivers went out on the wet tyres and Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen led the way.

As the drivers cautiously hit the track and took stock of the wet conditions, Magnussen set the first timed lap of 1m43.014s. The drivers struggled to get temperature into the tyres in the cold and slippery conditions.

With fourty-five minutes to go, Sebastian Vettel was on top of the time charts with a lap time of 1m39.041s. Yuki Tsunoda went 0.032 seconds faster than Vettel to take the top spot.

Carlos Sainz then went quickest of all with a lap time of 1m35.858s as he slotted in ahead of Bottas and Lance Stroll.

With thirty minutes to go, Max Verstappen, Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Sergio Pérez had not yet set timed laps.

Alonso and Gasly slotted into second and third positions behind Sainz. More drivers ventured out for the final twenty minutes of the session.

Vettel who is having a good weekend went to the top of the time charts with a lap time of 1m35.821s, 0.037 seconds faster than Sainz.

With fifteen minutes to go, Alonso and Vettel bolted on the intermediate tyres. Alonso slotted into first position with a lap time of 1m34.836s, almost one second faster than Vettel.

Vettel on the intermediate tyres went faster than Alonso with team-mate Stroll in third position. It was a battle for the top position between Vettel and Alonso as Alonso again took over the top spot with six minutes to go.

Magnussen went off the track at Turn 2 but managed to reverse and rejoin the circuit. With three minutes to go, Verstappen suffered the same fate as the Danish driver at Turn 2.

In the dying minutes of the session, Gasly slotted into second position ahead of Vettel. Esteban Ocon, Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris slotted in behind Vettel to round off the top six positions.

A wet qualification session is expected but with lesser water on the track.

2022 Canadian Grand Prix FP3 Results: