Veteran Alonso fastest in rainy third practice session at Canadian Grand Prix

MONTREAL — Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso recorded the fastest lap time in Saturday's rainy practice at the Montreal Grand Prix.

In a battle versus the blustery conditions, Alpine's Alonso laid down a lap time of one minute 33.836 seconds.

Pierre Gasly of Alpha Tauri was second with 1:33.889, while four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin was third (1:33.891).

Numerous cars lost control and went off the track, including Red Bull's championship points leader Max Verstappen, who was fastest in both practice sessions Friday.

Verstappen, who was last out of the garage, wound up on the grass after a slow-speed spin at Turn 2. He was ninth fastest.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was 15th, eight spots behind Mercedes teammate George Russell.

"I don't know if the rain's getting worse, but I actually have less grip now," said Russell.

Montreal native Lance Stroll, who's known to perform well in poor weather, was 13th in his Aston Martin. Toronto's Nicholas Latifi (Williams) was 19th.

Since weather was expected to improve for afternoon qualifying two hours later, plenty of drivers waited until the final minutes of practice to test in hopes conditions would be closer to what they might be for qualifying.

The lack of grip on the 4,361-metre track was audible in the sound of spinning tires on the cars. The temperature was 11 C.

"It's so sketchy," said Williams' Alex Albon. "I'm losing grip and I don't know why."

The Canadian Grand Prix makes its triumphant return after COVID-19 forced its cancellation in both 2020 and 2021.

Unfortunately for the thousands of fans who huddled under umbrellas Saturday, the weather wasn't festive.

A storm rolled in moments after Friday's practice session, sending fans