F1: Vettel Swiftest In Final Montreal Practice

Formula 1

F1: Vettel Swiftest In Final Montreal Practice

Sebastian Vettel takes P1 in the final practice session at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve...

Jared Turner | Posted June 09, 2012 Montreal (CAN)

Sebastian Vettel showed the way in Free Practice Three in Montreal. (Photo: Getty Images)

After Lewis Hamilton ruled both of Friday's practices at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, it was Sebastian Vettel out front in Saturday's lone practice ahead of knockout qualifying.

Vettel, who lost last year's Canadian GP on a late-race slip, paced the one-hour session with a lap of 1:14:442 in his Red Bull RB8 car.

Fernando Alonso's Ferrari clocked in second quickest, a mere .006 off the time set by Vettel's leading Red Bull.

Hamilton, who is seeking to become the season's seventh different winner this weekend, slipped to third with a time of 1:14:712.

Mark Webber and Pastor Maldonado rounded out the top five, followed in the top 10 by Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher, Romain Grosjean, Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Hulkenberg.

Jenson Button, the 2011 winner of the Canadian GP, ran only 15th out of 22 drivers to record timed laps.

It was an even tougher session for rookie Jean-Eric Vergne, whose Toro Rosso collided with the Turn One tire barrier 18 minutes in.

Vergne recorded only three laps, none of them timed.

Alonso is the points leader heading into Sunday's seventh round of the 2012 Formula One FIA World Championship.

Reigning World Champion Vettel and Red Bull teammate Webber are tied for second, trailing the Spaniard by a mere three points.

Hamilton (-13) and Nico Rosberg (-17) complete the top five.

Incredibly, each event of 2012 has been won by a different driver, with Button (Australia), Alonso (Malaysia), Rosberg (China), Vettel (Bahrain), Maldonado (Spain) and Webber (Monaco) all scoring, respectively.

On-track proceedings continue in Canada with three rounds of knockout qualifying, which SPEED will carry live Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.

Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.