Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) a été le plus rapide des essais libres du vendredi en Chine. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) est 2e. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) est 3e. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) est l’auteur du 4e temps. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) est 5e. On retrouve ensuite les 2 Toro Rosso et les 2 Force India.
| Pos. | No. | Pilote | Équipe | Temps | Écart | Tours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:36.896 | 35 | |
| 2 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:37.005 | +0.109s | 33 |
| 3 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:37.133 | +0.237s | 33 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:37.329 | +0.433s | 33 |
| 5 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing | 1:38.143 | +1.247s | 31 |
| 6 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:38.268 | +1.372s | 28 |
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:38.527 | +1.631s | 31 |
| 8 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:38.542 | +1.646s | 32 |
| 9 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:38.569 | +1.673s | 31 |
| 10 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:38.723 | +1.827s | 34 |
| 11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:38.728 | +1.832s | 31 |
| 12 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:38.828 | +1.932s | 28 |
| 13 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull Racing | 1:39.178 | +2.282s | 31 |
| 14 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:39.214 | +2.318s | 34 |
| 15 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:39.774 | +2.878s | 32 |
| 16 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:39.890 | +2.994s | 22 |
| 17 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 1:39.941 | +3.045s | 36 |
| 18 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:39.979 | +3.083s | 35 |
| 19 | 88 | Rio Haryanto | Manor | 1:40.550 | +3.654s | 33 |
| 20 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:41.066 | +4.170s | 32 |
| 21 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 1:42.954 | +6.058s | 4 |