Sebastian Vettel was the last free practice session of the GP of China, contested in wet conditions. As expected, the rain made its appearance for a good part of the morning at the Shanghai circuit, and modified the plans for the pilots.
it was Not until the half hour when Kimi Räikkönen marked the first time of the session, because no one wanted to risk, first to an accident and second to spend up tires before a classification is fraught with the track in similar conditions.
beyond any spin, as Romain Grosjean, the session was played without problems for almost everyone, although eight riders were not back in time, among them Fernando Alonso, which came out three times to the track but none came to give a complete turn, or Lewis Hamilton. Marcus Ericsson even came out to the track until the end, when he gave a lap of installation, due to problems in the gearbox of his Sauber.
time Table Free 3 Grand Prix China
| Pos. | Piloto | Dorsal | Equipo | Tiempo | Gap | Laps |
| 1 |  Sebastian Vettel |
5 | Ferrari | 01′ 57″351 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 |  Valtteri Bottas |
77 | Williams | 01′ 58″061 | +0.710 | 7 |
| 3 |  Sergio Perez |
11 | Force India | 01′ 58″689 | +1.338 | 4 |
| 4 |  Carlos Sainz |
55 | Toro Rosso | 01′ 58″800 | +1.449 | 9 |
| 5 | Esteban Gutiérrez |
21 | Haas F1 Team | 01′ 59″526 | +2.175 | 7 |
| 6 |  Jolyon Palmer |
30 | Renault | 01′ 59″677 | +2.326 | 7 |
| 7 |  Kevin Magnussen |
20 | Renault | 01′ 59″761 | +2.410 | 9 |
| 8 | Pascal Wehrlein |
94 | Manor F1 | 01′ 59″964 | +2.613 | 8 |
| 9 |  Max Verstappen |
33 | Toro Rosso | 02′ 00″150 | +2.799 | 6 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg |
27 | Force India | 02′ 00″158 | +2.807 | 4 |
| 11 |  Felipe Nasr |
12 | Sauber | 02′ 00″197 | +2.846 | 8 |
| 12 | Kimi Raikkonen |
7 | Ferrari | 02′ 00″812 | +3.461 | 5 |
| 13 | Felipe Massa |
19 | Williams | 02′ 02″438 | +5.087 | 4 |
| 14 |  Rio Haryanto |
88 | Manor F1 | 02′ 02″732 | +5.381 | 5 |
| 15 | Jenson Button |
22 | McLaren | Not time | — | 3 |
| 16 | Fernando Alonso |
14 | McLaren | Not time | — | 3 |
| 17 |  Romain Grosjean |
8 | Haas F1 Team | Not time | — | 4 |
| 18 |  Daniil Kvyat |
26 | Red Bull | Not time | — | 4 |
| 19 | Nico Rosberg |
6 | Mercedes | Not time | — | 2 |
| 20 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
3 | Red Bull | Not time | — | 3 |
| 21 | Lewis Hamilton |
44 | Mercedes | Not time | — | 2 |
| 22 |  Marcus Ericsson |
9 | Sauber | Not time | — | 1 |
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