Ferrari duo comfortably on top in FP3!

© XPB 

Ferrari seized the upper hand in FP3 for the Chinese Grand Prix, resuming its momentum from the start of the season.

After yesterday's wash-out and the cancellation of FP2, teams took full advantage of the dry conditions to accumulate as much mileage as possible.

Vettel put himself at the top of the timesheet with a 1'33.336 on the supersoft compound after 45 minutes, with team mate Kimi Raikkonen following suit just a tenth of a second behind.

Valtteri Bottas, who lost his T-wing early in the session, was the fastest Mercedes runner, but four tenths off Vettel's pace while Lewis Hamilton ended the session fourth, half a second away from the Ferraris.

Williams's Felipe Massa displayed a good form in fifth position while team mate Lance Stroll enjoyed a good session whihc he finsihed eighth.

The Williams pair sandwiched the Red Bull drivers who were more than one-and-a-half-seconds of the pace of the leaders, with Verstappen sixth and Ricciardo seventh.

Despite a spin, Jolyon Palmer enjoyed a trouble-free session, edging out his team mate for ninth while Hulkenberg was eleventh.

McLaren duo Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne were predictably slow, closing the ranks alongside Sauber, with a massive gap of over two-and-a-half-seconds from the top of the field.

FP3 results

PosDriverTeamTimeGapLaps
1Sebastian VettelFerrari1:33.336s20
2Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:33.389s+ 0.053s19
3Valtteri BottasMercedes1:33.707s+ 0.371s26
4Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:33.879s+ 0.543s25
5Felipe MassaWilliams1:34.773s+ 1.437s23
6Max VerstappenRed Bull1:34.946s+ 1.610s20
7Daniel RicciardoRed Bull1:35.092s+ 1.756s23
8Lance StrollWilliams1:35.182s+ 1.846s24
9Jolyon PalmerRenault1:35.192s+ 1.856s21
10Carlos SainzToro Rosso1:35.223s+ 1.887s24
11Nico HülkenbergRenault1:35.449s+ 2.113s22
12Kevin MagnussenHaas1:35.521s+ 2.185s22
13Sergio PérezForce India1:35.626s+ 2.290s20
14Romain GrosjeanHaas1:35.680s+ 2.344s22
15Daniil KvyatToro Rosso1:35.804s+ 2.468s23
16Esteban OconForce India1:35.811s+ 2.475s24
17Fernando AlonsoMcLaren1:35.912s+ 2.576s17
18Marcus EricssonSauber1:36.063s+ 2.727s25
19Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren1:36.221s+ 2.885s21
20Antonio GiovinazziSauber1:36.705s+ 3.369s24

GALLERY: All the pictures from Saturday in Shanghai

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