C’est Mark Webber (Red Bull) qui a été le plus rapide de la première séance d’essais libres du vendredi. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) a réalisé le 2e temps de la séance, devant Adrian Sutil (Force India). Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) est 4e, alors que Fernando Alonso a obtenu le 11e temps. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) est 18e.
| 1 | 6 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:54.589 | 10 | |
| 2 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 1:54.708 | 0.119 | 24 |
| 3 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:54.827 | 0.238 | 15 |
| 4 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:55.137 | 0.548 | 12 |
| 5 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 1:55.160 | 0.571 | 20 |
| 6 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:55.333 | 0.744 | 12 |
| 7 | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1:55.510 | 0.921 | 15 |
| 8 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:55.523 | 0.934 | 15 |
| 9 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1:55.672 | 1.083 | 11 |
| 10 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1:55.914 | 1.325 | 20 |
| 11 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:56.090 | 1.501 | 12 |
| 12 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 1:56.339 | 1.750 | 22 |
| 13 | 22 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 1:56.458 | 1.869 | 18 |
| 14 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 1:56.598 | 2.009 | 8 |
| 15 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1:56.603 | 2.014 | 12 |
| 16 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1:56.615 | 2.026 | 17 |
| 17 | 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1:56.840 | 2.251 | 14 |
| 18 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:56.884 | 2.295 | 9 |
| 19 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:57.760 | 3.171 | 22 |
| 20 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:59.034 | 4.445 | 19 |
| 21 | 25 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:59.275 | 4.686 | 16 |
| 22 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1:59.783 | 5.194 | 23 |
| 23 | 20 | Christian Klien | HRT-Cosworth | 2:03.424 | 8.835 | 17 |
| 24 | 18 | Fairuz Fauzy | Lotus-Cosworth | 2:05.694 | 11.105 | 11 |