Daniel Ricciardo set the pace during Saturday morning’s rain-affected final practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver clocked a time of 1:53.958 on Pirelli’s Intermediate tyre to lead Williams rival Felipe Massa by half a second, while Lotus’s Romain Grosjean rounded out the top three.
With overnight rainfall and further morning showers, the Shanghai circuit stayed damp throughout the 60-minute outing. Most drivers remained in single figures on the lap charts, as they saved their Intermediate and Full Wet rubber for qualifying, during which further precipitation is forecast.
It was ultimately Ricciardo who came out on top with his high 1m53s effort, the Australian finishing comfortably clear of Massa and early leader Grosjean.
Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg followed in fourth position, narrowly ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen and Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado, who pulled off the circuit with 20 minutes remaining amid technical trouble.
Daniil Kvyat again impressed for Toro Rosso in seventh, the Russian rookie outpacing Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, who spun at Turn 10, McLaren’s Jenson Button and Sergio Pérez in the second of the Force Indias.
Sebastian Vettel finished 11th after experiencing ERS problems. The reigning World Champion was more than two seconds adrift of team-mate Ricciardo and delivered a downbeat radio message at the end of the session.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, team-mate Nico Rosberg, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen all avoided posting times, as they opted for even greater tyre preservation than their rivals.
