Sebastian Vettel narrowly pipped Fernando Alonso to take the top spot for final practice ahead of qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver put in a late lap to secure the lead by just six thousandths, whilst Alonso managed to jump practice one and two leader Lewis Hamilton by a further two tenths.
The second Red Bull of Mark Webber led Pastor Maldonado who completed the top five fastest cars.
Qualifying is lining up to be a close battle with a just over a second covering P1 to Daniel Ricciardo in P16.
The Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne only completed three laps after hitting the tyre barrier at turn one.
A few laps earlier Nico Rosberg stopped on circuit at turn seven after reporting an issue with his clutch.
2012 Canadian GP FP3 Results:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:14.442 | 22 | |
| 02. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:14.448 | +0.006 | 17 |
| 03. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:14.712 | +0.270 | 19 |
| 04. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:14.724 | +0.282 | 21 |
| 05. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:14.755 | +0.313 | 22 |
| 06. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:14.767 | +0.325 | 21 |
| 07. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:14.796 | +0.354 | 19 |
| 08. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:14.873 | +0.431 | 20 |
| 09. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:14.977 | +0.535 | 21 |
| 10. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:14.992 | +0.550 | 22 |
| 11. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:15.067 | +0.625 | 19 |
| 12. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:15.112 | +0.670 | 21 |
| 13. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:15.126 | +0.684 | 24 |
| 14. | B. Senna | Williams | 1:15.237 | +0.795 | 22 |
| 15. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:15.327 | +0.885 | 22 |
| 16. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:15.498 | +1.056 | 19 |
| 17. | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:16.268 | +1.826 | 24 |
| 18. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:16.545 | +2.103 | 20 |
| 19. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:17.705 | +3.263 | 21 |
| 20. | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:17.974 | +3.532 | 23 |
| 21. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:18.189 | +3.747 | 21 |
| 22. | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:18.684 | +4.242 | 23 |
| 23. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 3 | ||
| 24. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1 |
