Sebastian Vettel sets pace in third practice for Russian Grand Prix

His Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen was second, 0.337 seconds back, followed by the Mercedes cars of Valtteri Bottas in third and Lewis Hamilton in fourth.

Ferrari has topped all three practices on a Sochi track which had been widely expected to favor Mercedes.

Technical problems continued to dog Red Bull. Daniel Ricciardo briefly stopped on the track, a day after his teammate Max Verstappen’s car broke down.

Renault rushed to change Jolyon Palmer’s engine ahead of qualifying after car problems prevented him from setting a time.