Valtteri Bottas remains the man to beat heading into qualifying after leading a curtailed final practice at the Chinese Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver came out on top, overhauling Sebastian Vettel’s initial benchmark with a 1m32.830s as the leading four drivers each managed one representative flying lap in the final 10 minutes.
The German would remain second though with Charles Leclerc just 0.026s behind in third and Lewis Hamilton still lacking confidence as a mistake on his first timed lap left him fourth, 0.8s behind his teammate.
Action would be stopped soon after though following a hefty crash for Alex Albon at the final corner, as the Toro Rosso driver ran wide onto the Astroturf and couldn’t correct a slide before heading straight into the tyre barrier.
Based on the considerable damage, it’s unlikely the rookie’s car will be repaired in time for qualifying.
Several midfield drivers did manage a late flying lap too on the soft C4 tyre before the red flag, with Nico Hulkenberg leading the way in fifth for Renault.
Kimi Raikkonen was sixth in the Alfa Romeo ahead of Max Verstappen, the first driver who didn’t get a chance to go out again.
Carlos Sainz was eighth as McLaren continue to look strong as Albon and teammate Daniil Kvyat completed the top 10.
While the crash did distort the final order, Lando Norris, hoping to continue his streak of Q3 appearances to start his F1 career, was P11 ahead of Sergio Perez.
Daniel Ricciardo will be aiming for his first top 10 with Renault but was P13. Pierre Gasly has the same goal at Red Bull but his initial best was only good enough for 15th.
Also struggling is Haas as Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen remain well down the order in 17th and 18th with only the Williams pair behind, bringing up the field.
The unrepresentative results of the session can be seen below:
