Kimi Raikkonen set the pace ahead of Sebastian Vettel in yesterday’s practice for the F1 Chinese GP as the Ferrari pair dislodged the dominant Mercedes duo.

The Finn, a former winner for Ferrari in China, jumped to the top of the order with a one minute 36.896 second lap in the second practice session, beating German team-mate Vettel by a margin of 0.109 seconds.

Championship leader Nico Rosberg was third for Mercedes, 0.237 seconds off Raikkonen’s benchmark.

Rosberg’s team-mate and reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, who heads into today’s qualifying session with a five-place grid penalty for a change of gearbox, was fourth, 0.433 seconds adrift.

Yesterday, Rosberg had set the fastest time ahead of Hamilton in the morning’s interrupted opening session in which the Ferrari duo were only third and fifth.

But the Maranello-based squad turned the tables on their German rivals in the afternoon with their runs on the fastest, red-walled, super-soft compound tyre.

The afternoon’s practice session was only the second time this season that a Mercedes has not ended a session on top.

The German team has won 34 of the last 40 races and started the last eight on pole.

Rosberg, who leads the standings by 17 points from Hamilton, heads into tomorrow’s race gunning for a sixth-straight win.

The Briton, meanwhile, is aiming to complete a hat-trick of Chinese GP wins, even if the highest he can start the race from is sixth.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo ended the day fifth, the Australian, fourth in the morning, setting a time 1.247 seconds adrift.

McLaren driver Fernando Alonso, cleared by doctors to compete in tomorrow’s race after a final round of medical tests following the morning session, was eleventh.

The Spaniard, forced to miss the last race in Bahrain due to injuries sustained in an accident last month in Australia, completed a total of 42 laps over the entire day.