Sebastian Vettel is expecting a tight fight for victory at the Chinese Grand Prix despite leading a shock Ferrari front row lock-out in qualifying ahead of the reigning world champions.
Shanghai has been a Mercedes stronghold throughout the V6 turbo era but it failed to match Ferrari's pace in qualifying. Vettel pipped Raikkonen in the closing seconds of Q3 for the second race weekend in a row as Ferrari finished 0.5s ahead of Valtteri Bottas in third.
Vettel expects Mercedes to be closer in the race but admits Ferrari was braced for a tougher challenge on Saturday.