(CNN) -- All eyes were on triple world champion Sebastian Vettel during practice ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, with the German back behind the wheel for the first time since ignoring team orders to clinch victory in Malaysia.
The Red Bull driver was left frustrated at the Shanghai International Circuit, struggling for pace as he registered the 10th quickest lap time.
World championship leader Vettel was one and a half seconds off the leading time set by Ferrari's Felipe Massa and insisted improvements were needed ahead of qualifying on Saturday.
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"Today was a tricky day for us," the 25-year-old told the sport's official website. "I struggled a bit this afternoon and the gap to the guys at the top is a little bit bigger than I'd like.
"Get him (Webber) out of the way, he is too slow," Sebastian Vettel disdainfully remarked over team radio at last month's Malaysia Grand Prix. The German was instructed not to challenge Webber, who was leading the race, but ignored orders and overtook the Australian with ten laps remaining. Vettel's tactics caused much consternation on social media and reopened the debate about the practicality of team orders in Formula 1.
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An unhappy Mark Webber, left, with Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel at the postrace press conference in Malaysia.
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"There are two or three things that we need to work on and then we should be in a better shape for tomorrow.
"I think we know what we need to do. It looks like the soft tyre is the one for qualifying, but it seems that we won't see that many stints on the soft tyre during the race."
Webber, who was upset by Vettel's decision to overtake him last month despite being instructed by Red Bull to hold position, performed better than his colleague, clocking the fifth fastest time of the day.
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For Massa it continues a bright start to 2013 which has seen him outperform his double world champion teammate Fernando Alonso.
"Today, I immediately had a good feeling in the car," explained Brazil's Massa, who is four points ahead of Alonso in fifth position in the drivers' standings.
"I feel confident and hope that the whole weekend can keep moving in this direction."
Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen, winner of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix set the second fastest time.
The 2007 world champion was satisfied with the performance of his Renault car and is optimistic ahead of the weekend.
"If you look at the lap time it looks to have been a pretty okay day," said the Finn. "For sure, there are things we have to improve and you never know what will happen tomorrow, but it's a reasonable start to the weekend.
"We can definitely improve. We have some pace to come from the car in the usual areas with setup.
"My quick lap today could have been better, so there's some more pace to come even if we don't improve the car, but hopefully we do."
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Vettel leads Webber during the Malaysia Grand Prix in Sepang in March. It's not the first time team orders have caused rifts between drivers.
Awkward scenes on the podium at the 2010 German Grand Prix after Felipe Massa (left) surrendered the lead to his Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso when the team told him that the Spaniard had the faster car.
Rubens Barrichello (right) looks far from content as teammate Michael Schumacher has a quiet word on the podium following the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, which the German controversially won. The Brazilian, who spent six years as Schumacher's deputy at Ferrari, says he empathizes with Webber's position at Red Bull.
Barrichello led the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix before ceding position to his Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher. Team orders were banned the following season.
Moss (left) trails behind Fangio at the Italian Grand Prix in 1956. "I'm glad I raced when I did and not now because the pleasure was so much more then and the racing certainly was purer," Moss says.
Webber had led after coming out of his final pit stop with 13 laps to go in Sepang, but Vettel claimed victory after defying team orders to overtake while the Australian was following instructions to conserve his car.
They shared the podium with third-placed Lewis Hamilton, whose Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg obeyed team orders and did not attack the English driver even though he felt he was quicker.
Fernando Alonso won the race last year, but his 200th career grand prix was less successful. The Ferrari driver damaged his front wing early on and then made the mistake of staying out on the track too long and was not able to finish.
Jenson Button's car is pushed back to the pit area after his crew let the McLaren leave with a loose front wheel. It ruined the 2009 world champion's chances of earning points and he retired before the end of the race. However, his new Mexican teammate Sergio Perez finished ninth.
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