What does Friday practice tell us ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix?

The teams will never show their full hand during Friday practice but what can we take away from the two sessions ahead of Formula 1's 1000th race at the Chinese Grand Prix?

While Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari topped practice one, Mercedes appears to have the edge on race pace. Valtteri Bottas topped the timing sheets after second practice had concluded but the fight at the top looks to be a very tight one but Ferrari may well have the pace in hand to unleash on Saturday.

Both Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were comfortably faster than Vettel on long-run simulations using the soft tyre, but the outright one-lap head-to-head might not read the same come Saturday with Ferrari's power advantage a massive factor down the kilometre long back straight.

The issue that prevented Charles Leclerc from recording any meaningful running means that Ferrari did not get the opportunity to run the medium tyres while their rivals did, possibly putting them on the back foot ahead of FP3. Red Bull appears to be in the mix on race pace however are not quite within range of a surprise pole position.

In behind the top three teams, the midfield battle looks closer than ever, with just 0.7 seconds separating Nico Hulkenberg's Renault in fifth and Kevin Magnussen in the Haas in 16th.

Every team bar Williams looks to be in with a shot of Q3 on Saturday, an encouraging sign ahead of the race as well. Renault will be hopeful that the early indication that they are at the head of the midfield holds true going into the all-important qualifying session after a dismal race in Bahrain saw both cars retire.

McLaren's strong start to 2019 looks as though it will continue in China, both Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris ended Friday in the top 10. After midweek talk and praise over the progress the team has made this season, the race in Shanghai could be another positive step for the team on early showing.

Magnussen and Haas will be hoping to find something in the data overnight after the American team ended day one of the weekend in 16th and 17th place. The Dane admitted he has struggled with the narrow tyre operating windows which could play a huge factor come qualifying throughout the hour session.