Vettel leads China FP3 as Ricciardo suffers engine failure

Ferrari hit the front of the Formula 1 pack in final practice for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on Saturday morning thanks to Sebastian Vettel's fastest time as Red Bull rival Daniel Ricciardo suffered a sizeable engine failure midway through the session.

After seeing Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton set the pace through both FP1 and FP2 on Friday, Vettel took his turn at the front of the field in final practice as he finished more than four-tenths of a second clear of teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

Vettel's fastest lap of 1:33.018 was enough to give him P1 on the Ultrasoft tyre, with Raikkonen finishing 0.451 seconds behind to complete a one-two finish for Ferrari in FP3.

Mercedes' charge was led by Valtteri Bottas, who lapped seven-tenths of a second slower than Vettel to take third place ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen in P4.

Hamilton finished fifth in the sister Mercedes, but did not put in a qualifying simulation at the end of FP3 on the Ultrasoft tyre after enduring a difficult session that saw him lock up repeatedly before suffering a big spin on exit at Turn 10.

Red Bull's rough start to the season continued as Ricciardo was forced to park his car up at the side of the track with 25 minutes to go in the session after suffering a suspected turbo failure. Plumes of smoke erupted from the rear of Ricciardo's Renault power unit as he powered down the back straight, causing him to slow and eventually come to a halt.

While Red Bull expects to have the issue fixed in time for qualifying, it is likely to eat into the team's power unit allocation for the season, with Ricciardo having already taken two new elements following his DNF in Bahrain last weekend.

Kevin Magnussen led the midfield pack for Haas in sixth place in a mixed session for the team as an issue limited Romain Grosjean to just six laps, leaving the Frenchman at the foot of the timesheets.

Force India drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon took seventh and eighth respectively, while Carlos Sainz Jr. took ninth for Renault ahead of Sergey Sirotkin, who took a surprise P10 finish for the struggling Williams team.

Nico Hulkenberg wound up 11th in the second Renault ahead of McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne in 12th and 13th. Toro Rosso drivers Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly were 14th and 16th, split by Ricciardo, with Lance Stroll taking 17th. Sauber drivers Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson ended FP3 18th and 19th, beating only the hamstrung Grosjean in 20th.

F1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - FREE PRACTICE 3 RESULTS