Ferrari had led every session except Friday’s opening practice this weekend, including the first two phases of qualifying.
With Mercedes’ Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton not making it past the opening 18-minutes of the hour-long session, Vettel and Raikkonen were set to engage the surviving Mercedes of Nico Rosberg in a battle for pole.
Instead, despite topping the timesheets right until the final runs, the best the Maranello-based squad could manage was a second row start with Raikkonen third and Vettel fourth.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo put his Red Bull on the front row, with championship leader Rosberg on pole position.
"It’s a shame, I think we had a chance to be even on the top today," Raikkonen, who ran wide at the turn 14 hairpin, told reporters.
"But that’s how it goes and we try to make the best out of it tomorrow,” said the Finn, last on pole for the 2008 French Grand Prix.
Vettel meanwhile only opted to do one run, compared to two for his rivals, in the final part of qualifying.
With the track damp at the start of the hour and evolving through the session, Vettel was unable to make the most of his sole lap.
"I think the first was there, at least second was there for grabs, but the lap I had wasn't good enough," said the four-times world champion.
Tipped to challenge Mercedes’ two-year dominance of Formula One, Ferrari desperately need a trouble-free weekend if they are to live up to that promise after reliability issues and missed opportunities in the opening two races.
Raikkonen, a former winner for Ferrari in China, has a chance of jumping pole-sitter Rosberg off the line if the German makes a slow getaway.
It could be his only chance to control the race, with the Mercedes driver starting on the more durable soft tyre which will allow him to run longer before the first round of pitstops.
"Quite disappointed about what happened... but third is not a bad place to start," Raikkonen said. "We’ll try to make the fastest race and see what it brings."
(Editing by Alan Baldwin)
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