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
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:33.336s | 20 | |
| 2 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:33.389s | + 0.053s | 19 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:33.707s | + 0.371s | 26 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:33.879s | + 0.543s | 25 |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:34.773s | + 1.437s | 23 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:34.946s | + 1.610s | 20 |
| 7 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:35.092s | + 1.756s | 23 |
| 8 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1:35.182s | + 1.846s | 24 |
| 9 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:35.192s | + 1.856s | 21 |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:35.223s | + 1.887s | 24 |
| 11 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:35.449s | + 2.113s | 22 |
| 12 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:35.521s | + 2.185s | 22 |
| 13 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | 1:35.626s | + 2.290s | 20 |
| 14 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:35.680s | + 2.344s | 22 |
| 15 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:35.804s | + 2.468s | 23 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1:35.811s | + 2.475s | 24 |
| 17 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:35.912s | + 2.576s | 17 |
| 18 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:36.063s | + 2.727s | 25 |
| 19 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1:36.221s | + 2.885s | 21 |
| 20 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Sauber | 1:36.705s | + 3.369s | 24 |
GALLERY: All the pictures from Saturday in Shanghai
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