With Mercedes on top for the third session in a row, it was Lewis Hamilton’s turn to take the fastest lap over teammate Nico Rosberg. Sebastian Vettel managed to split the two Mercedes drivers, finishing second, and with about half a second of pace over teammate Kimi Räikkönen.

Red Bull were struggling, with Daniel Ricciardo already using up one of his four available engines for the season, and Daniil Kvyat suffering an exhaust fire during the final practice session.

McLaren participated in the session, which is more than the Manor team could achieve, but found themselves lacking pace and focusing on gathering data instead.