Jenson Button (McLaren) a été le plus rapide de la première séance d’essais libres du Grand Prix d’Allemagne. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) a obtenu le 2e temps. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) est 3e et on retrouve derrière Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Sergio Perez (Sauber) et Nico Hulkenberg (Force India). Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) est 7e. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) a fait le 12e temps et Mark Webber (Red Bull) le 20e temps.
| 1 | 3 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:16.595 | 27 | |
| 2 | 4 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:17.093 | 0.498 | 22 |
| 3 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:17.370 | 0.775 | 21 |
| 4 | 7 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:17.382 | 0.787 | 20 |
| 5 | 15 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:17.413 | 0.818 | 28 |
| 6 | 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:17.599 | 1.004 | 17 |
| 7 | 8 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:17.915 | 1.320 | 27 |
| 8 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:17.995 | 1.400 | 22 |
| 9 | 18 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:18.020 | 1.425 | 20 |
| 10 | 10 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:18.130 | 1.535 | 21 |
| 11 | 14 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:18.226 | 1.631 | 22 |
| 12 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:18.339 | 1.744 | 21 |
| 13 | 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1:18.422 | 1.827 | 28 |
| 14 | 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:18.709 | 2.114 | 30 |
| 15 | 9 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:18.831 | 2.236 | 14 |
| 16 | 11 | Jules Bianchi | Force India-Mercedes | 1:18.972 | 2.377 | 21 |
| 17 | 17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:19.039 | 2.444 | 34 |
| 18 | 21 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1:19.674 | 3.079 | 24 |
| 19 | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1:19.963 | 3.368 | 24 |
| 20 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:20.122 | 3.527 | 27 |
| 21 | 25 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:20.169 | 3.574 | 20 |
| 22 | 24 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:20.539 | 3.944 | 18 |
| 23 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1:21.138 | 4.543 | 24 |
| 24 | 23 | Dani Clos | HRT-Cosworth | 1:21.740 | 5.145 | 27 |