Daniel Ricciardo raced against the clock in order to qualify

DANIEL Ricciardo blew his engine in the final practice session, thankfully his mechanics were able to pull a rabbit out of the hat.

Red Bull's Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo steers his car during the qualifying session for the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on April 14, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Johannes EISELE

DANIEL Ricciardo’s nightmare start to the season looked to be adding a new chapter after his engine blew up in the final practice session during the China Grand Prix.

Ricciardo, who retired from last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix with an electrical failure, faced a race against the clock to get the car up for qualifying.

As the clocked dwindled down, the Red Bull car sat up on the blocks before finally being released with only minutes remaining in the opening qualifying session.

Ricciardo had one attempt to secure his placed in the second qualifying session and managed to set a lap time that placed him 14th.

From there the ball really got rolling as Ricciardo fought his way into the final session before eventually qualifying in sixth place, one spot behind teammate Max Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton’s Formula One championship fightback suffered another dent in Shanghai, qualifying only fourth for the Chinese Grand Prix, with Sebastian Vettel winning pole position.

Hamilton dominated Friday’s practice, but the Mercedes cars had no answer to Ferrari in Saturday qualifying. German Vettel led a front-row lockout ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen for the second-straight weekend.

Incredible work, @redbullracing 👏👏👏

Ricciardo heads out for a single timed lap in Q1#F1 #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/bY6h0jBG1j

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 14, 2018

Vettel, who already holds a 17-point lead over Hamilton with victories at the opening two GPs, saw off Raikkonen’s challenge to edge out the Finn with a dramatic last lap.

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas lines up in third.

Mercedes have dominated in recent years in China. It has been seven years since a silver car failed to line up on the front spot.

Hamilton struggled for pace, spinning during the morning practice session, before qualifying behind Bottas for the second time in as many races.

Hamilton was close to half-a-second down on Vettel, who will be the favourite to convert his pole into a third victory and extend his championship lead.

“I was happy with the whole lap,” said Vettel who finished just 0.087 seconds clear of Raikkonen.

“The car was amazing and just kept getting better.

“I lost the rear of the car on my first lap so I was a bit beaten up but I knew, if I get a tidy lap and have a bit of magic, I could push it.”

Superb display from Ferrari, dominant throughout. Vettel excellent when it mattered - and Kimi? Doing a damn fine job so far this season, must be said #F1 #ChineseGP

— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) April 14, 2018

— with AAP