Lance Stroll tops the timesheets in sole practice session for Chinese Grand Prix

Lance Stroll set the pace in the only practice session at this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.

With the sprint format making a return, teams have just 60 minutes to set up their cars ahead of the sprint shootout.

With a mixture of tyres in play, it was difficult to gauge the pecking order in Shanghai.

However, it was Stroll who topped the timesheets for Aston Martin.

Stroll’s 1m36.302s put him 0.3s clear of McLaren’s Oscar Pastri, who showed better pace at a circuit which didn’t expect to suit the Woking outfit.

Had it not been for traffic on his final run, it would have been likely that Lando Norris topped the order.

Norris was 0.4s up on Piastri’s benchmark before encountering a number of cars before the back straight.

It wasn't an entirely smooth day with a small fire breaking out at Turn 7, causing a brief red flag.

Behind the top two was Max Verstappen, 0.3s shy of Stroll’s top time in FP1.

Sergio Perez continued his strong form, within a tenth of Verstappen.

The Haas duo were fifth and sixth respectively with Nico Hulkenberg leading the way.

Esteban Ocon was an impressive seventh in the upgraded Alpine, while Alex Albon, Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas completed the top 10.

Both Ferraris were outside the top 10 after failing to find significant time on their new soft tyres.

Mercedes didn’t set a time on the softer rubber, leaving their drivers 17th and 18th.