Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRace weekend

LIVE: Chinese Grand Prix - FP3

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Follow live coverage of the third free practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix with F1i.

FP3 gets underway at 1200 local time at Shanghai International Circuit. It's the last chance for the drivers to fine-tune their cars before this afternoon's all-important qualifying session and tomorrow's race.

LIVE: Chinese Grand Prix - FP3

Friday saw Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton top the first practice session which was hit by two red flags for punctures for Williams' Felipe Massa and Renault's Kevin Magnussen. It was all change in the afternoon, with Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel setting the pace in a session largely given to long race stints. That could potentially make today's qualifying - which thankfully reverts to the 2015 format after the ill-fated experiment with countdown elimination - particularly engrossing and crucial all round.

In any case, Hamilton is already on the back foot because of a five-place grid penalty he's received after having to take a new gearbox following the discovery of damage following the Bahrain GP. That means the highest he can start Sunday's race is sixth place, even if he wins pole later today.

Also at a disadvantage this weekend are Magnussen and Haas F1's Esteban Gutierrez who both lost a lot of practice time on Friday. Gutierrez ran only half a dozen laps during the entire day, suffering an electrical problem in the morning and then a nasty brake fire in the afternoon.

Meanwhile we're happy to be able to report that Fernando Alonso is back in action this weekend. He's still in some discomfort from the fractured ribs he sustained in that horror crash in Melbourne last month, but he doesn't need any further medical evaluations in order to race - although he's been told to pull over and stop if he experiences any 'abnormal symptoms' at any point over the weekend.

F1i's live page has been updated to bring you a better user experience, while the coverage will bring you all the latest information about what is happening on track as well as news and features from the paddock.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.