Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo topped the timing screens on Saturday morning as rain hit Shanghai, dissuading his main rivals to avoid running.
The intermediate was the tyre of choice and Ricciardo put himself top half way through the session, half a second clear of anyone else.
It was Felipe Massa for Williams who popped up in second ahead of the Lotus of Romain Grosjean.
Pastor Maldonado tried to make up for limited running during FP2 following his pitlane crash and posted 12 laps – one of just four cars to make double digits.
Due to the conditions, the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, the McLaren of Kevin Magnussen and the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, failed to set a time.
FP3 Full Times – 2014 Chinese Grand Prix:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:53.958 | 5 | |
| 02 | F. Massa | Williams | 1:54.492 | 0.534 | 5 |
| 03 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:54.514 | 0.556 | 4 |
| 04 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:55.032 | 1.074 | 6 |
| 05 | K. Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:55.062 | 1.104 | 4 |
| 06 | P. Maldonado | Lotus | 1:55.228 | 1.270 | 12 |
| 07 | D. Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:55.235 | 1.277 | 7 |
| 08 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:55.381 | 1.423 | 5 |
| 09 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:55.673 | 1.715 | 4 |
| 10 | S. Perez | Force India | 1:56.019 | 2.061 | 6 |
| 11 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:56.233 | 2.275 | 8 |
| 12 | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:56.380 | 2.422 | 9 |
| 13 | A. Sutil | Sauber | 1:56.760 | 2.802 | 8 |
| 14 | M. Chilton | Marussia | 1:56.841 | 2.883 | 13 |
| 15 | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:57.468 | 3.510 | 9 |
| 16 | K. Kobayashi | Caterham | 1:57.812 | 3.854 | 12 |
| 17 | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 1:57.976 | 4.018 | 14 |
| 18 | M. Ericsson | Caterham | 1:59.507 | 5.549 | 6 |
| 19 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | No time | 4 | |
| 20 | K. Magnussen | McLaren | No time | 3 | |
| 21 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | No time | 1 | |
| 22 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | No time | 3 |
