Sebastian Vettel is seven points clear of Lewis Hamilton after winning two of the first three races. (Source: Reuters)

Sebastian Vettel was fastest in the third and final practice for the Russian Grand Prix as Ferrari maintained its advantage over Mercedes on Saturday.

The Formula One leader’s time was the fastest of the weekend so far, underlining Vettel’s status as the man to beat in qualifying later Saturday.

His Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen was second, 0.337 seconds back, followed by the Mercedes cars of Valtteri Bottas in third and Lewis Hamilton in fourth.

Ferrari has topped all three practices on a Sochi track which had been widely expected to favor Mercedes.

Technical problems continued to dog Red Bull. Daniel Ricciardo briefly stopped on the track, a day after his teammate Max Verstappen’s car broke down.

Renault rushed to change Jolyon Palmer’s engine ahead of qualifying after car problems prevented him from setting a time.

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