Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time heading into qualifying as Ferrari remain ahead of Mercedes at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Amid a flurry of laps on the soft compound tyre, the German left it until his final attempt to post a 1.10.843s to beat teammate Charles Leclerc and secure a Scuderia 1-2 for the second straight session.
The Monegasque is looking particularly strong around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve meaning a second pole is definitely a possibility.
For Mercedes, the difference came on the back straight as Ferrari was able to match their pace in the first two sectors before using their power advantage to gain the crucial tenths.
Lewis Hamilton recovered well from his bash against the wall of Friday to claim third ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas, but a near four-tenth gap to Vettel will be tricky to overturn.
Red Bull can’t totally be ruled out for the second row as Max Verstappen all-but matched Ferrari before losing a second in the final sector to drop to fifth.
With Pierre Gasly just behind in sixth, however, it does indicate the Dutchman has a few tenths left in his pocket.
The midfield duel is as tight as expected with less than four-tenths covering eight drivers.
Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed a little breathing space in seventh for Renault, ahead of Lando Norris in the McLaren in eighth.
Sergio Perez gave Racing Point optimism in ninth, with Daniil Kvyat making it four different teams in the final four positions in P10.
The notable absentee is Haas with Kevin Magnussen 12th and teammate Romain Grosjean continuing to struggle down in 17th.
Carlos Sainz’ strong pace from Friday has also faded after the Spaniard could only manage P13.
Kimi Raikkonen had to do a brief spot of groundhog dodging as is fairly common in Montreal, but his Alfa Romeo team could be in danger of a Q1 elimination as they sit 15th and 16th.
Williams continues to bring up the timesheet, but a fiery end to the session saw Lance Stroll fail to set a time with the team reporting a hydraulics leak on his Racing Point.
A fascinating session has left the situation perfectly poised heading into qualifying, with the full result of Practice 3 available below.
