Lewis Hamilton made it three for three, topping the third practice session in Shanghai. Ferrari were best of the rest once more, with Red Bull closing the gap. Both the Toro Rosso drivers finished in the top ten, whilst Button dropped down to 14th. His McLaren teammate had less luck, failing to complete a single lap before stopping out on track with a suspected engine problem.

Kvyat was treating his brakes gingerly, after a spectacular smoking failure yesterday, and Felipe Massa also discovered smoke in the cockpit of his Williams, halting his running.