Chinese GP: Vettel leads Ferrari 1-2 in final practice

Vettel on Friday

After a disrupted Friday, the drivers finally got some running under their belts on Saturday morning as dry weather returned to China. In an extremely busy final practice session it was Ferrari who stole a march on the rest of the field heading into qualifying, with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen setting a searing pace as they finished just 0.053s apart in first and second respectively. Valtteri Bottas was their closest challenger – but the Mercedes driver was more than three and a half tenths of a second down the road in third.

Lewis Hamilton might well have lapped quicker than his team mate in the other Silver Arrows, but a lock-up at the Turn 14 hairpin on his fastest lap meant he had to settle for P4 on the timesheet.

Williams’ Felipe Massa finished best of the rest in fifth, followed by the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

The top ten was rounded out by Lance Stroll’s Williams, Jolyon Palmer’s Renault and Carlos Sainz’s Toro Rosso.

All drivers set their best times on super-softs, except for Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat in 15th place.

Results