Vettel four tenths ahead of Raikkonen; Bottas seven tenths down; Hamilton has big spin and only fifth; Ricciardo suffers engine failure
Tuesday 11 December 2018 15:23, UK
Sebastian Vettel led a dominant Ferrari one-two in Practice Three for the Chinese GP as Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo suffered a difficult morning.
Vettel posted a 1:33.018 on ultrasofts to finish four tenths ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, with Valtteri Bottas seven tenths down in third in the leading Mercedes.
World champion Hamilton - who topped both of Friday's sessions - endured a tough session as he struggled for balance and had a huge spin, managing only the fifth-fastest time behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
But there were more serious issues for Ricciardo. After a gearbox investigation delayed his start to the session, he was forced to park up after a big engine failure with Red Bull now facing a race against time to get his RB14 ready for Qualifying.
"We have a suspected turbo failure," Christian Horner told Sky F1. "Whether that has damaged the combustion engine as well, time will tell.
"The amount of times we have changed these engines, we have plenty of practice."
Kevin Magnussen continued Haas' impressive start to the season by posting the sixth fastest time, while Force India enjoyed a better session with Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon seventh and eighth respectively.
Sergey Sirotkin offered Williams some encouragement after a tough start to the season as he got his FW41 into the top 10, behind Carlos Sainz's Renault, although team-mate Lance Stroll was down in 17th.
