Lewis Hamilton topped the first practice session from China, setting a best time of 1:33.999. The Briton enters the weekend in search of his first win of the season, having seen rival Sebastian Vettel take victory in the opening two rounds.

It wasn't smooth sailing for Hamilton throughout the 90 minutes of running, as he spun his W09 at Turn 11 with just over 20 minutes to go. Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas finished in third, four and a half tenths down on Hamilton.

There were spots of rain throughout the session, with Vettel reporting a 'light drizzle' over the radio. However, it never came heavy enough to make the drivers opt for the intermediate tyres, but a threat of rain remains for Friday and Saturday. 

Sandwiched between the two Silver Arrows was Kimi Raikkonen, who will be looking to bounce back from his DNF in Bahrain. Fourth was Daniel Ricciardo, who led his teammate Max Verstappen in fifth.

Verstappen too had trouble on the circuit, running through the gravel after the final turn. The Dutchman appeared to be starting a fast lap, but simply didn't have the grip in the tyres, and lost the rear as he applied the power.

Championship leader Vettel was sixth, leading Haas' Kevin Magnussen, who recorded his best result in Bahrain since the 2014 Russian Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz was eighth for Renault, ahead of Romain Grosjean and Nico Hulkenberg, who rounded out the top ten.

Pierre Gasly, who starred at the Bahrain Grand Prix, was eleventh, ahead of Fernando Alonso. The Force India duo followed the Spaniard, with Sergio Perez leading teammate Esteban Ocon.

Sergey Sirotkin was P15, ahead of Brendon Hartley. Charles Leclerc and Stoffel Vandoorne were the next to follow, with the aforementioned pair being another two who had difficulty staying on the circuit at some point during the session.

Marcus Ericsson will be on a high after picking up is first points in 50 races last time out. The Swede ended the session in P19, while Canadian Lance Stroll rounding out the timesheets.

Fergal Walsh