Image courtesy of Mercedes AMG Petronas
Lewis Hamilton closed out his dominant form in practice sessions as he ended third practice for the Chinese Grand Prix fastest of all.
Hamilton set the benchmark time of 1:37.615 on the yellow-marked soft tyre during the qualifying simulations, two tenths clear of team-mate Nico Rosberg in second.
Sunny and clear weather conditions were to be seen by both teams and drivers above although it wouldn’t be enough to kick start McLaren’s day positively as Fernando Alonso ended his session with smoke at the back of the car, reporting an engine problem that forced him to miss the rest of the session.
Ferrari rounded out the final hour of practice as best of the rest, Sebastian Vettel was under seven tenths off Hamilton’s best time, although Vettel suggested he may have left a bit of time in the table having reported traffic on his quickest lap. Kimi Raikkonen was two tenths behind Vettel in fourth. While Red Bull climbed up the order from yesterday with Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat in fifth and sixth respectively, despite the latter complaining of a lack of power during the session.
Toro Rosso was sandwiched by the sole Williams of Valtteri Bottas in the top ten in eighth, with Carlos Sainz Jr finishing seventh and Max Verstappen further down the order in ninth. Romain Grosjean in his Lotus completed the top ten.
Alonso’s team-mate Jenson Button, who was cautioned by his team over the team’s power unit troubles, allowed McLaren to show their upturn in speed once more as he ended the session in fifteenth place but three tenths off the top ten. While Manor (ignoring Alonso who failed to complete a timed lap) occupied the bottom spots.
