The world champion's Red Bull had been on top for most of the session, and waited until the final seconds before heading out on medium Pirellis. Vettel came across traffic halfway round his lap, prompting an angry gesture at Charles Pic.
Mark Webber completed the top three in the second Red Bull and Lotus duo Kimi Raikkonen and early pacesetter Romain Grosjean were fourth and sixth, sandwiching Lewis Hamilton.
The Mercedes had a dramatic end to its session when Hamilton suffered an apparent left rear tyre failure on his slowing-down lap. The car sustained suspension damage in the incident, but Hamilton was able to nurse it back to the pits.
Lewis Hamilton will receive a five-place grid drop for the Bahrain Grand Prix as the Mercedes team has had to change his gearbox prior to qualifying. The penalty is the third to be applied for Bahrain qualifying so far, with Mark Webber and Esteban Gutierrez already facing three and five place demotions respectively for causing accidents in China.
SATURDAY PRACTICE
P. Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:33.247 12
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:33.348 + 0.101 15
3. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:33.380 + 0.133 19
4. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:33.446 + 0.199 21
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG 1:33.455 + 0.208 19
6. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:33.464 + 0.217 19
7. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:33.596 + 0.349 17
8. Paul di Resta Force India 1:33.700 + 0.453 15
9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG 1:33.764 + 0.517 19
10. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:33.922 + 0.675 17
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:33.949 + 0.702 20
12. Jenson Button McLaren 1:34.117 + 0.870 17
13. Sergio Perez McLaren 1:34.282 + 1.035 18
14. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:34.577 + 1.330 16
15. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:34.611 + 1.364 17
16. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:34.678 + 1.431 16
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:34.833 + 1.586 17
18. Charles Pic Caterham 1:35.816 + 2.569 16
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:36.731 + 3.484 17
20. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:36.939 + 3.692 16
21. Max Chilton Marussia 1:37.630 + 4.383 7
22. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:39.592 + 6.345 28
FREE PRACTICE 1 P. Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:34.487 11
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:34.564 + 0.077 19
3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG 1:34.621 + 0.134 22
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:34.790 + 0.303 20
5. Paul di Resta Force India 1:34.949 + 0.462 17
6. Jenson Button McLaren 1:35.069 + 0.582 22
7. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:35.101 + 0.614 19
8. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:35.119 + 0.632 19
9. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:35.345 + 0.858 17
10. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:35.611 + 1.124 14
11. Sergio Perez McLaren 1:35.640 + 1.153 23
12. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:35.783 + 1.296 16
13. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG 1:35.792 + 1.305 16
14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:36.014 + 1.527 19
15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:36.485 + 1.998 20
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:36.498 + 2.011 17
17. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:36.755 + 2.268 20
18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:37.214 + 2.727 21
19. Charles Pic Caterham 1:37.850 + 3.363 20
20. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:38.401 + 3.914 20
21. Max Chilton Marussia 1:39.445 + 4.958 12
22. Rodolfo Gonzalez Marussia 1:40.215 + 5.728 7
FREE PRACTICE 2
P. Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:34.154 31
2. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:34.184 + 0.030 26
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:34.282 + 0.128 29
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:34.310 + 0.156 28
5. Paul di Resta Force India 1:34.543 + 0.389 35
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:34.552 + 0.398 34
7. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:34.631 + 0.477 33
8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG 1:34.666 + 0.512 37
9. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:34.932 + 0.778 33
10. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG 1:34.976 + 0.822 29
11. Jenson Button McLaren 1:35.356 + 1.202 32
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:35.506 + 1.352 36
13. Sergio Perez McLaren 1:35.5$9 + 1.435 36
14. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:35.761 + 1.607 33
15. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:36.133 + 1.979 36
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:36.279 + 2.125 33
17. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:36.579 + 2.425 28
18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:36.616 + 2.462 34
19. Charles Pic Caterham 1:37.061 + 2.907 32
20. Max Chilton Marussia 1:37.313 + 3.159 33
21. Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:37.363 + 3.209 29
22. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:37.970 + 3.816 34
