» Canadian GP 3rd Practice: Hamilton on top of the timesheets

Lewis Hamilton has set himself up as a possible pole position contender in the final practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix, by topping the timesheets at the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve.

Heading into what will be a fascinating and closely-fought qualifying session, the top-four places on the timesheets were occupied by drivers from different teams. F1 fans could well be faced with the prospect of something other than a Red Bull occupying pole position for the first time this season.

Both McLarens were quickest for the majority of the 60-minute session, with the 2008 Champion holding onto the top spot for much of the reckoning and generally able to knock down his quickest team with each passing lap. A time of 1:16.259 came on the harder compound Bridgestone tyres.

Even equipped with soft rubber, no other runner was able to better that time, and almost as if to rub salt into the wound, Hamilton went quicker still when he switched to the softer rubber, with a time of 1:16.058. With fortunate seemingly shining on the Briton, he escaped the very next lap with a light brush against the wall.

No other runners were able to challenge Hamilton’s time in the closing minutes, when the yellow flags were unfurled after Lucas di Grassi threw his Virgin Racing car into the gravel trap at the hairpin.

Completing the top four positions were Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher, and Sebastian Vettel made it two Red Bulls in the top-five.

Robert Kubica and Adrian Sutil showed promising form for Renault and Force India respectively, with featuring at the pointy end of the timesheets during the session. Their respective team-mates, Vitaly Petrov and Vitantonio Liuzzi, occupied the final positions of the top-ten places on the timing screens.

One driver to fall victim to di Grassi’s off-road incident was Jenson Button, who was only eighth-quickest overall.

Felipe Massa was another who didn’t feature as prominently as expected, finishing as the 12th-quickest driver and expressing concerns he may have damaged his Ferrari after a brush with the ever-close cement walls.

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was another driver who should have featured at the sharp end of the timesheets, but he was grounded with the clutch issue for much of the session, and only ventured out in the closing minutes.

That is more than can be said for Karun Chandhok, with the Hispania Racing driver unable to complete a timed lap after his car ground to a halt with an hydraulics issue after a single installation lap.

2010 Canadian Grand Prix Practice 3 Session Times:

	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1.	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	1:16.058	15
2.	Mark Webber	Red Bull Renault	+ 0.282	16
3.	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+ 0.437	19
4.	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes GP	+ 0.478	15
5.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Renault	+ 0.524	16
6.	Robert Kubica	Renault	+ 0.595	18
7.	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	+ 0.615	15
8.	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	+ 0.641	16
9.	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India Mercedes	+ 0.756	15
10.	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	+ 0.924	18
11.	Nico Hülkenberg	Williams Cosworth	+ 1.063	16
12.	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+ 1.173	16
13.	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso Ferrari	+ 1.273	22
14.	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari	+ 1.490	20
15.	Pedro de la Rosa	Sauber Ferrari	+ 1.551	16
16.	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso Ferrari	+ 1.575	21
17.	Rubens Barrichello	Williams Cosworth	+ 1.731	18
18.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP	+ 1.921	4
19.	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Cosworth	+ 2.955	15
20.	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Cosworth	+ 3.389	16
21.	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing Cosworth	+ 3.478	22
22.	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Racing Cosworth	+ 3.786	20
23.	Bruno Senna	HRT Cosworth	+ 4.267	18
24.	Karun Chandhok	HRT Cosworth	no time	1