Formula 1 Hits 1000: SportPesa Racing's Perez, Stroll Upbeat, Bottas In Shanghai Pole

SHANGHAI, China- SportPesa Racing Point Formula 1 duo, Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll are upbeat ahead of Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on Sunday after completing their third practise session on Saturday.

Perez, who had timed 1:35.820 to end  the first practise in 17th on Friday improved on his ranking by clocking 1:35.078 to land in 12th in the final meeting on Saturday, beating the likes of Australian Daniel Ricciardo and Antonio Giovinazzi of Italy.

Stroll, who was ninth in the first, clocked 1:35.223 in the last period to finish 14th.

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Valtteri Bottas narrowly grabbed pole position for the Sunday competition with Lewis Hamilton beside him in a dominant Mercedes front-row lockout after the third practise.

Sebastian Vettel was third-fastest for Mercedes' arch-rivals Ferrari for the race in Shanghai, the 1,000th grand prix in Formula One.

Bottas, who leads the championship by one point from title-holder Hamilton after two races, scorched to a best time of one minute 31.547 seconds.

That was just 0.023 secs ahead of Hamilton.

"The car has been really good this weekend and Lewis also improved a lot in qualifying, it was super close," said the Finn Bottas.

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Fourth on the grid will be the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Fifth was Red Bull's Max Verstappen and sixth his team-mate Pierre Gasly.

Bottas was the man in form, going fastest in the last two practice sessions.

He had also gone quickest in Q1, but teammate Hamilton was marginally faster in Q2.

A notable casualty in Q2 was former world champion Kimi Raikkonen, the Alfa Romeo veteran who is a crowd favourite in China. 

Earlier, Toro Rosso's Alexander Albon lost control and smashed at high speed towards the end of final practice, so did not take part in qualifying.

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The 23-year-old rookie climbed gingerly out of his wrecked car, but only after a huge scare that drew gasps from the crowd in Shanghai.

The Thai-Briton, who is in his first season in F1, careened into a wall as he entered the straight with less than 10 minutes left of third and final practice.

His car was badly mangled and there was a frantic call from engineers asking if he was okay.

He was later given the all-clear but missed qualifying because his ruined car could not be fixed in time.

Albon said that he had been "a bit too greedy".

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"I was obviously pushing, trying to find the limits, but it should have been in qualifying not FP3 (third practice)," he said. 

Sunday's race begins at 2:10 p.m. (0610 GMT).Chinese Formula One Grand Prix free practice times in Shanghai on Saturday:

THIRD PRACTICE

1. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Mercedes 1:32.830, 2. Sebastian Vettel (GER) Ferrari 1:33.222, 3. Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari 1:33.248, 4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes 1:33.689, 5. Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Renault 1:33.974, 6. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:34.246, 7. Max Verstappen (NED) Red Bull 1:34.447, 8. Carlos Sainz (ESP) McLaren 1:34.510, 9. Alexander Albon (THA) Toro Rosso 1:34.600, 10. Daniil Kvyat (RUS) Toro Rosso 1:34.783, 11. Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren 1:34.938, 12. Sergio Perez (MEX) Racing Point 1:35.078, 13. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Renault 1:35.142, 14. Lance Stroll (CAN) Racing Point 1:35.223, 15. Pierre Gasly (FRA) Red Bull 1:35.326, 16. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:35.726, 17. Romain Grosjean (FRA) Haas 1:35.771, 18. Kevin Magnussen (DEN) Haas 1:35.998, 19. George Russell (GBR) Williams 1:36.124, 20. Robert Kubica (POL) Williams 1:36.176