Sebastian Vettel set the pace for Ferrari in opening practice for the Chineܫse Grand Prix on Friday, ed✨ging out Mercedes Formula 1 rival Lewis Hamilton at the head of the timesheets.

✃Two weeks on from his costly spin when battling Hamilton in Bahrain, Vettel started the China weekend on the right foot by tur🍰ning in a fastest time of 1m33.911s, lapping two-tenths of a second quicker than the rest of the field.

Vettel was able t𒀰o make up for losses to Hamilton in the first two sectors by setting a quick t💮ime in Sector 3, with Ferrari's power advantage showing early down the long back straight.

Vettel also managed to set his tiꦰme on the Medium compound tyre, with Hamilton's effort being posted on the quicker Softs.

Charles Leclerc t𝕴ook third place in the sister Ferrari SF90, finishing narrowly behind Hamilton, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen ended FP1 fourth-fastest.

Valtteri Bottas could only tak🤪e fifth for Mercedes ah🦩ead of Renault's Daniel Ricciardo, who finished as the leading midfield driver ahead of his 2019 Red Bull replacement Pierre Gasly.

Daniil Kvyat led Toro Rosso's efforts in FP1 as he took eighth ahead of Racing Point's Lance Stroll, the latter escaping a spin at the final corner early in the session without any issues. Romain Grosjean completed the top 🍸10 for Haas, finishing ahead of Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen in 11th.

Nico Hulkenberg ended opening practice 12th ahead of rookies Lando Norris and Alexander Albon of M🐲cLaren and Toro Rosso respectively, while Kimi Raikkonen took 15th for Alfa Romeo.

Raikkonen was the sole Alfa Rome𝔉o driver to set a time in FP1 a🔜s teammate Antonio Giovinazzi was sidelined by a power issue, limiting him to just two laps early in the session.

Carlos Sainz Jr. wound up 16th for McLaren ahead of Racing Point's Sergio Perez and the Williams duo of Robert Kubica and Geo﷽rge Russell, with Giovinazzi propping up the timesheets 🐲in P20.

Seconꦡd practice in China gets underway at 7am BST on Friday.