F1 Chinese GP: Hamilton makes it three from three in final practice

Hamilton was quickest in both segments of the session - leading his team-mate by three tenths on medium tyres and then by 0.226 seconds after the qualifying simulations on softs.

The reigning F1 world champion could have been faster still, outpacing Rosberg by four tenths at sector two on his best lap before losing some of his cushion on the run to the line.

Ferrari was again Mercedes' closest rival. Sebastian Vettel got within a tenth of Rosberg on mediums but on softs the gap to Hamilton's pacesetting time grew to 0.7s.

Kimi Raikkonen slotted the second Ferrari into fourth, behind Vettel.

Fernando Alonso was only able to do half a lap in the session as his McLaren-Honda stopped with an apparent engine problem within moments of taking to the track.

Despite McLaren's best efforts, he was unable to get out again. Jenson Button represented the team alone in 15th, but had looked stronger on medium tyres.

There were headaches for Red Bull and Williams too. Red Bull had to warn Daniil Kvyat to take care of his brakes again, while smoke in the Williams cockpit caused concern for Felipe Massa.

Red Bull ended up better off on pace - Daniel Ricciardo and Kvyat taking fifth and sixth, half a second off the Ferraris and just ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr's Toro Rosso.

Valtteri Bottas and Massa were only eighth and 11th in the Williams, sandwiching Max Verstappen's Toro Rosso and Romain Grosjean's Lotus.

PRACTICE THREE RESULTS: