Lewis Hamilton led the way in both practice sessions for Sunday 's Chinese Grand Prix . Hamilton suggested Mercedes will be back in control for this race after Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel conjured one of the surprises for many a season with the team 's first victory for almost two years at the last race in Malaysia . Many people expected another dominant Mercedes campaign in the wake of last season 's crushing success and thoroughly convincing win in the opening race in Australia . Lewis Hamilton was fastest in both practice sessions for this weekend 's Chinese Grand Prix . The Briton , mobbed by fans in the paddock , is bidding to win his fourth Chinese Grand Prix . 1 . Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:37.219 . 2 . Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:37.662 . 3 . Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull - Renault 1:38.311 . 4 . Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:38.339 . 5 . Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:38.399 . 6 . Daniil Kvyat Red Bull - Renault 1:38.737 . 7 . Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:38.850 . 8 . Felipe Nasr Sauber - Ferrari 1:39.032 . 9 . Romain Grosjean Lotus - Mercedes 1:39.142 . 10 . Jenson Button McLaren 1:39.275 . 11 . Pastor Maldonado Lotus - Mercedes 1:39.444 . 12 . Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:39.743 . 13 . Marcus Ericsson Sauber - Ferrari 1:39.751 . 14 . Max Verstappen Toro Rosso - Renault 1:39.894 . 15 . Carlos Sainz Jr Toro Rosso - Renault 1:39.971 . 16 . Nico Hulkenberg Force India - Mercedes 1:40.151 . 17 . Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:40.423 . 18 . Sergio Perez Force India - Mercedes 1:40.868 . 19 . Roberto Merhi Marussia - Ferrari 1:42.973 . 20 . Will Stevens Marussia - Ferrari 1:44.564 . Even Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff suggested Ferrari 's success was ' a wake-up call ' to his organisation . Without doubt Mercedes , and Hamilton in particular , responded as he initially finished 0.541 seconds quicker than team-mate Nico Rosberg at the end of FP1 when Pirelli 's medium-compound tyre was used . Switching to the faster soft tyre for runs in FP2 , Hamilton again comfortably had the edge by 0.443secs over Ferrari 's Kimi Raikkonen . Red Bull 's Daniel Ricciardo was third quickest , 1.093secs adrift , but only after taking to the track 40 minutes late due to issues . It is yet to be determined whether they were the same problems that ultimately brought an end to team-mate Daniil Kvyat 's day . As the young Russian exited the pits with 20 minutes remaining his brakes caught fire , and although Kvyat attempted to return , he was eventually forced to pull off track . Felipe Massa trudges off the track after his spin brought out the red flags during the second practice session . The Brazilian inspects his Williams after he locked up on the approach to turn 14 before losing the back end . Vettel was fourth on the timesheet , 1.120secs down , with Rosberg fifth after making a mistake on his fast lap on the soft tyres . Kvyat still ended up sixth , followed by the Williams of Valtteri Bottas , Sauber 's Felipe Nasr and Romain Grosjean in his Lotus . McLaren 's Jenson Button completed the top 10 , two seconds down as he and the team continue to show signs of improvement , with team-mate Fernando Alonso 12th and a further half a second off the pace . Felipe Massa 's session , meanwhile , lasted 38 minutes as the Williams driver skidded off the track at the end of the longest straight in F1 . Daniil Kvyat 's brakes caught fire when he left the pits and the Red Bull driver ended up in the gravel . Fernando Alonso looks on from the back of the McLaren garage ... he ended the second session in 12th . The Brazilian locked up on the approach to turn 14 , losing the back end of the car and resulting in a slide on to the run-off area where he lost the left front-wing endplate after clipping a barrier . Although Massa managed to keep the engine running and reversed his car , the endplate lodged under the left-front tyre , forcing him to abandon . It resulted in the session being red-flagged for the car 's retrieval , with Massa ultimately finishing down in 17th . Manor duo Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens brought up the rear , the latter encountering issues with his power unit in FP2 which restricted him to just six laps . Stevens will be hoping the problem can be resolved as he has already missed qualifying and the race in both Australia and Malaysia due to other difficulties . Sebastian Vettel , winner at the Malaysian Grand Prix last time out , was fourth quickest in the second session .
Lewis Hamilton was fastest in both practice sessions for Sunday 's race . Hamilton , the world champion , is bidding to win his fourth race in Shanghai . He leads title race from Sebastian Vettel who won last time out in Malaysia . Kimi Raikkonen was second fastest in the second session in China . Jenson Button was 10th in his McLaren with Fernando Alonso 12th .