Max Verstappen was fastest in heavily interrupted first free practice for Chinese GP after he drove only four laps on his way to topping the timesheets with 1:50.491 lap.
FIRST FREE PRACTICE RESULTS
| Pos | Nr | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull TAG Heuer | 1:50.491 | 4 | |
| 2 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams Mercedes | 1:52.086 | 1.595 | 7 |
| 3 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams Mercedes | 1:52.507 | 2.016 | 7 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso Renault | 1:52.840 | 2.349 | 5 |
| 5 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:53.039 | 2.548 | 6 |
| 6 | 26 | Danil Kvyat | Toro Rosso Renault | 1:53.314 | 2.823 | 4 |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Honda | 1:53.520 | 3.029 | 5 |
| 8 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull TAG Heuer | 1:54.038 | 3.547 | 7 |
| 9 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:54.664 | 4.173 | 4 |
| 10 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:55.104 | 4.613 | 8 |
| 11 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:55.608 | 5.117 | 6 |
| 12 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren Honda | 1:57.445 | 6.954 | 4 |
| 13 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 2:15.138 | 24.647 | 4 |
| 14 | 36 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Sauber Ferrari | 2:15.281 | 24.790 | 4 |
| 15 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 3 | ||
| 16 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 2 | ||
| 17 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1 | ||
| 18 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India Mercedes | 2 | ||
| 19 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 3 | ||
| 20 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 2 |
