Fernando Alonso set the quickest time by some margin during final practice for the Chinese Grand Prix to easily go quickest for Ferrari.
The Spaniard’s 1:35.391 put him sex tenth ahead of his team-mate Felipe Massa who had led the second practice session.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton put in the third quickest lap ahead of the Red Bull duo led by Sebastian Vettel.
Hulkenberg was the only driver to have an off during the session after coming across team mate Esteban Gutierrez running slowly at turn two.
Meanwhile Paul di Resta couldn’t match Adrian Sutil who finished sixth fastest. Di Resta had to settle for 16th ahead of Gutierrez’s Sauber and Romain Grosjean’s Lotus.
Jules Bianchi spearheaded Marussia’s challenge from Caterham’s Charles Pic.
FP3 Times – 2013 Chinese Grand Prix:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time/Retired | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:35.391 | 13 | |
| 2 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:36.013 | +0.622 | 11 |
| 3 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:36.065 | +0.674 | 18 |
| 4 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:36.286 | +0.895 | 17 |
| 5 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:36.420 | +1.029 | 15 |
| 6 | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:36.549 | +1.158 | 16 |
| 7 | K. Räikkönen | Lotus | 1:36.605 | +1.214 | 16 |
| 8 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:36.693 | +1.302 | 16 |
| 9 | S. Perez | McLaren | 1:36.777 | +1.386 | 16 |
| 10 | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1:36.853 | +1.462 | 15 |
| 11 | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:37.072 | +1.681 | 15 |
| 12 | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:37.205 | +1.814 | 18 |
| 13 | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:37.300 | +1.909 | 11 |
| 14 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:37.349 | +1.958 | 12 |
| 15 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:37.457 | +2.066 | 16 |
| 16 | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:37.487 | +2.096 | 13 |
| 17 | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:37.740 | +2.349 | 20 |
| 18 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:37.813 | +2.422 | 16 |
| 19 | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 1:38.496 | +3.105 | 17 |
| 20 | C. Pic | Caterham | 1:38.821 | +3.430 | 18 |
| 21 | M. Chilton | Marussia | 1:39.627 | +4.236 | 16 |
| 22 | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 1:39.652 | +4.261 | 18 |
