Sebastian Vettel was quickest as drivers finally got some significant track time on Saturday after Friday’s sessions at the Shanghai International Circuit were heavily affected by the weather.
The German led a Scuderia Ferrari one-two in the session ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, with Vettel’s fastest time of 1:33.336s just 0.053 seconds ahead of his Finnish team-mate.
Lewis Hamilton made a mistake at the hairpin on his final run that denied him the opportunity to challenge for top spot, but ultimately the Briton was forced to settle for fourth fastest, just behind Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Bottas was forced to run without his T-wing after it snapped off his W08 early on during the session, but the Finn did not let that put him off as he set a best time of 1:33.707s, compared to Hamilton’s 1:33.879s.
Felipe Massa ended up as best of the rest behind Ferrari and Mercedes, but the Williams Martini Racing driver was 1.437 seconds down in fifth, ahead of Red Bull Racing duo Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, while Lance Stroll was an impressive eighth in his first proper session at Shanghai in the second Williams.
Jolyon Palmer was ninth for the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team, while Carlos Sainz Jr completed the top ten for Scuderia Toro Rosso, ahead of Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.
Shanghai International Circuit Free Practice 3 Result
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