Lewis Hamilton escaped a late brush with the wall to top the final Canadian practice session for McLaren.
The British driver clipped the wall on his final effort, but managed to escape with his MP4-25 still intact.
Hamilton’s led the way with a time of 1:16.058 – nearly three tenths ahead of the Red Bull of Mark Webber, with Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari in third.
Michael Schumacher kept himself in the mix in fourth, with the second Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel in fifth and Robert Kubica (Renault) in sixth.
Despite Hamilton’s pace his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button could only manage eighth – encountering traffic on a number of his runs.
With morning raining leaving the circuit damp in placed, the session started slowly with drivers choosing to complete one installation lap and then bide their time – allowing for conditions to improve.
The first man to set a fast lap was the Sauber of Kobayashi, who was quickly knocked off his perch by Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso. However both men were relegated to thirteenth and fourteenth respectively, once the front runners took to the track.
Drivers left it late to try the option tyre, and although Hamilton managed to set a faster time on the compound, question marks still remain over its longevity.
The session was not short of casualties, with the Hispania of Karun Chandhok grinding to a hault while exiting the pits for the first time. Additionally, Nico Rosberg suffered from a clutch issue which prevented him for setting a fast time until two minutes before the end of the session.
Felipe Massa touched the wall on the exit of turn seven, damaging the front wing and the tyres on the left side of his Ferrari. However, the Brazilian appeared to get away with the incident and managed to return to the track before the end of the session.
Lucas di Grassi’s nightmare continued, after the Virgin driver spun at Turn 10 and ended up beached in the gravel trap – bringing out the yellow flags.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.058 15 2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:16.340 + 0.282 16 3. Alonso Ferrari 1:16.495 + 0.437 19 4. Schumacher Mercedes 1:16.536 + 0.478 15 5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:16.582 + 0.524 16 6. Kubica Renault 1:16.653 + 0.595 18 7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:16.673 + 0.615 15 8. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.699 + 0.641 16 9. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:16.814 + 0.756 15 10. Petrov Renault 1:16.982 + 0.924 18 11. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:17.121 + 1.063 16 12. Massa Ferrari 1:17.231 + 1.173 16 13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.331 + 1.273 22 14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.548 + 1.490 20 15. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.609 + 1.551 16 16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.633 + 1.575 21 17. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:17.789 + 1.731 18 18. Rosberg Mercedes 1:17.979 + 1.921 4 19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:19.013 + 2.955 15 20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:19.447 + 3.389 16 21. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:19.536 + 3.478 22 22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:19.844 + 3.786 20 23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:20.325 + 4.267 18 24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1
