Free 1: Hamilton best time

It is under an overcast sun and a heat of almost 30°C that this first free practice session begins, at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. in France). The first drivers to show up are those for whom these minutes of driving are precious. Paul di Resta (Force India) and Fairuz Fauzy (Lotus Racing), reserve drivers for their respective teams, have the opportunity to drive during this first free practice session and do not deprive themselves of it.

Fairuz Fauzy thus establishes the first reference times (1:43:456, 1:42:390, 1:41:552) while Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok continue the search for reliability on the HRT single-seaters by running in 1?43??-1?45??. Paul di Resta, at the wheel of the VJM03, quickly gained the upper hand over Fairuz Fauzy, setting competitive times (1:37:462, 1:37:209).

It was after a good half hour of session that many drivers decided to go out to set some good times. Vitaly Petrov (Renault) runs in 1?36??891, Jenson Button (McLaren) improves by more than a second in 1?35??464. But Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) comes on the scene and lowers the reference mark one after the other (1:35??138 then 1:34??921).

With preparation for the Grand Prix being on the agenda for the different teams, it is difficult to say who is best exploiting the potential of their team. car, between McLaren, Mercedes ou Red Bull. Renault in any case joins in the fight with the third time of Robert Kubica (1:35:402), while Fairuz Fauzy goes sideways on the Sepang circuit and Jaime Alguersuari finds himself stuck at the entrance to the pitlane. Mark Webber (Red Bull), in 1:35:479, is fifth. As is often the case, Red Bull does not show up on Friday.

After the congestion in the middle of the session, the track becomes less busy again. You have to wait until the last minutes of the session to find many competitors on the track. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) achieves the ninth time in 1:36:043 while Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) improved his time to consolidate his third place, in 1:35:225. At the very last moment, Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) came out of his box and took second time in 1:35:106, slipping between Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

After this first session, it is difficult to say which team is doing the best, the preparation programs being different. One thing is sure, Ferrari and Red Bull remained very discreet while McLaren and Mercedes were at the forefront. Preparation continues during the second practice session, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (French time).