Carlos Sainz was called to see the stewards for allegedly impeding Alex Albon after he crashed out of third and final practice at the Canadian Grand Prix.

And Sainz could find himself in hot water again after a dramatic moment in qualifying, with Pierre Gasly accusing the Ferrari driver of intentionally trying to slow down his third sector.

Martin Brundle branded it “unacceptable” in commentary while Gasly called on Sainz to be “banned” while reacting to the moment on team radio.

“[He] should be banned for such a thing,” Gasly said.

“I’m coming at 300. What the f*** do they think.”

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“Why is Sainz going so slowly in that corner, comprising the preparation of his own lap? It makes no sense for him or Ferrari. It’s unacceptable,” added Brundle in commentary.

Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer told Sky Sports F1 that Sainz’s move was “ridiculous”.

“Terrible. I think Pierre would have been P6, and now he’s out in Q1,” Szafnauer said.

Yuki Tsunoda, Nyck de Vries, Tom Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu joined Gasly as the drivers eliminated in Q1.

The Sainz-Gasly incident is set to be investigated by the stewards and it is hardly the only drama for the Ferrari star.

Sainz also slowed at the chicane at Turn 13 of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in FP3, prompting Albon to tell his engineer on the Williams team radio that he had blocked his progress.

“As always, just dangerous from the Ferrari,” said Albon.

“All the time. He just stopped in the middle of the chicane.”

Sainz later crashed at Turn One and damaged his car, causing a red flag that delayed the action by seven minutes.

A stewards’ statement cited an alleged breach of article 375 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations with “car 55 unnecessarily impeding car 23 at turn 13”.

Sainz may face a grid penalty if the stewards decide he impeded Ocon. He and team-mate Charles Leclerc have struggled to match their team’s ambitions this season.

Ferrari are without a win after seven races all won by Red Bull.

Earlier, defending double world champion Max Verstappen bounced back from a pedestrian performance on Friday to top the times in a rainswept third and final free practice.

The Red Bull driver, who had complained of ‘tricky’ challenges in setting up his car for the demanding Circuit Gilles Villeneuve bumps and barriers, clocked a best lap in one minute and 23.106 seconds to top Leclerc by 0.291 seconds.

Two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin was third, but he was 1.3 seconds off the leading pace, ahead of Haas’s Kevin Magnussen, Sainz in the second Ferrari, and Gasly.

Sainz had crashed midway through the session, bouncing off the barriers at Turn One, but walked away unhurt.

Local hero Lance Stroll was seventh in the second Aston Martin, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda of Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Friday’s fastest man seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.

After Saturday’s protracted and interrupted practice, the entire field was in need of a clean session – but an ominous low air temperature of only 14 degrees and a soaking wet track after heavy and continuing overnight rain only offered the prospect of more incidents.

Nico Hulkenberg was first out for Haas, in need of a run after blowing an engine in second practice.

With a new power unit on board, he ventured out on full wet tyres, followed by Williams’ Logan Sargeant, Alonso and Russell.

Alonso was swiftly on top of the times and came in to switch to intermediates after being held up at the hairpin. “Who is the blind guy in the Alpha Tauri?” he asked.

The answer was Tsunoda.

The Japanese then survived a big spin out of Turn Four, without touching the barriers, before going top in 1:30.685 – a full 17 seconds slower than the leading times on Friday.

Verstappen, on wets, then took command in 1:29.190, before being beaten by Leclerc and then Hulkenberg as the times tumbled to 1:25.724, while Tsunoda spun again at Turn Two.

After his modest showing on Friday, Verstappen was clearly in the mood in the rain and went top again in 1:24.977 before Sainz crashed in his Ferrari midway through the hour at Turn One.

The Spaniard lost control under braking and the rear end of his car spun away turning him into the wall and damaging both ends.

He was unhurt, but the session was red-flagged.

After a seven-minute stoppage, the action resumed with Hamilton, Friday’s fastest man, slithering off at Turn One into a run-off area to re-join at Turn Two.

In the colder weather, Mercedes were clearly struggling with tyre performance and were unable to generate temperatures.

“Grip is very poor,” said Hamilton.

“It is all about the temps,” came the reply.

Verstappen, meanwhile, went 1.6 clear of the rest with a lap in 1:23.106 with 12 minutes remaining and more, heavier rain sweeping across the circuit to send everyone back to the pits until the session ended.

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