Piastri hits the wall in final practice for Canadian GP
Lando Norris has lapped quickest in final Canadian Grand Prix practice but it proved a trying session for his McLaren teammate, championship leader Oscar Piastri, who hit Montreal's wall of champions.
Norris lapped the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in one minute 11.799 seconds on Saturday, 0.078 quicker than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who was back on track after crashing on Friday and missing second practice.
Piastri, though, could only finish eighth, with the Australian briefly triggering red flags when he skimmed the famed wall at the last corner and scattered debris with 37 minutes to go.
The Melbourne driver was able to get back out again with 24 minutes remaining.
Briton Norris had described Friday's practice as McLaren's worst of the season but appeared more comfortable in the last track time before qualifying later on Saturday.
Mercedes' 2024 pole-sitter George Russell was third, 0.151 off the pace, with Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton fourth, a quarter of a second slower than Norris.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen, chasing an unprecedented fourth successive Canadian win on Sunday, was fifth fastest with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso sixth.
Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli was seventh, ahead of Piastri, who leads Norris by 10 points after nine of the 24 races.
Lando Norris has lapped quickest in final Canadian Grand Prix practice but it proved a trying session for his McLaren teammate, championship leader Oscar Piastri, who hit Montreal's wall of champions.
Norris lapped the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in one minute 11.799 seconds on Saturday, 0.078 quicker than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who was back on track after crashing on Friday and missing second practice.
Piastri, though, could only finish eighth, with the Australian briefly triggering red flags when he skimmed the famed wall at the last corner and scattered debris with 37 minutes to go.
The Melbourne driver was able to get back out again with 24 minutes remaining.
Briton Norris had described Friday's practice as McLaren's worst of the season but appeared more comfortable in the last track time before qualifying later on Saturday.
Mercedes' 2024 pole-sitter George Russell was third, 0.151 off the pace, with Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton fourth, a quarter of a second slower than Norris.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen, chasing an unprecedented fourth successive Canadian win on Sunday, was fifth fastest with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso sixth.
Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli was seventh, ahead of Piastri, who leads Norris by 10 points after nine of the 24 races.
Lando Norris has lapped quickest in final Canadian Grand Prix practice but it proved a trying session for his McLaren teammate, championship leader Oscar Piastri, who hit Montreal's wall of champions.
Norris lapped the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in one minute 11.799 seconds on Saturday, 0.078 quicker than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who was back on track after crashing on Friday and missing second practice.
Piastri, though, could only finish eighth, with the Australian briefly triggering red flags when he skimmed the famed wall at the last corner and scattered debris with 37 minutes to go.
The Melbourne driver was able to get back out again with 24 minutes remaining.
Briton Norris had described Friday's practice as McLaren's worst of the season but appeared more comfortable in the last track time before qualifying later on Saturday.
Mercedes' 2024 pole-sitter George Russell was third, 0.151 off the pace, with Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton fourth, a quarter of a second slower than Norris.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen, chasing an unprecedented fourth successive Canadian win on Sunday, was fifth fastest with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso sixth.
Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli was seventh, ahead of Piastri, who leads Norris by 10 points after nine of the 24 races.
Lando Norris has lapped quickest in final Canadian Grand Prix practice but it proved a trying session for his McLaren teammate, championship leader Oscar Piastri, who hit Montreal's wall of champions.
Norris lapped the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in one minute 11.799 seconds on Saturday, 0.078 quicker than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who was back on track after crashing on Friday and missing second practice.
Piastri, though, could only finish eighth, with the Australian briefly triggering red flags when he skimmed the famed wall at the last corner and scattered debris with 37 minutes to go.
The Melbourne driver was able to get back out again with 24 minutes remaining.
Briton Norris had described Friday's practice as McLaren's worst of the season but appeared more comfortable in the last track time before qualifying later on Saturday.
Mercedes' 2024 pole-sitter George Russell was third, 0.151 off the pace, with Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton fourth, a quarter of a second slower than Norris.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen, chasing an unprecedented fourth successive Canadian win on Sunday, was fifth fastest with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso sixth.
Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli was seventh, ahead of Piastri, who leads Norris by 10 points after nine of the 24 races.
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Australian chess prodigy Reyaansh Chakrabarty is a FIDE master and hopes one day to become a grandmaster. Supplied Credit: News Corp Australia He travels the world playing against top players in tournaments. Supplied Credit: News Corp Australia The next level is international master, which generally means a rating of 2400 and three 'norms' or performance benchmarks a player needs to hit to gain the title. And then there is the rarefied world of grandmaster, a huge achievement that takes years of dedicated practice, study and ambition. Australia has only produced 10 grandmasters from a global field of about 2000. 'It's hard to predict that he is necessarily going to become a grandmaster, but he is certainly going about it the right way,' Mr Power said. 'Should he get to the GM title, Australia would be very pleased. It would be a feather in the cap, not just for Reyaansh and his family but for Australia.' Reyaansh's ambitions go even further and he dreams about becoming world champion. 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