Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) a été le plus rapide de la première séance d’essais libres du Grand Prix de Hongrie. Jenson Button (McLaren) a réussi le 2e temps de cette séance. Il a devancé Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Romain Grosjean (Lotus) et Michael Schumacher (Mercedes). Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) a fait le 15e temps.
| 1 | 4 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:22.821 | 30 | |
| 2 | 3 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:22.922 | 0.101 | 24 |
| 3 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:23.397 | 0.576 | 24 |
| 4 | 8 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:23.628 | 0.807 | 29 |
| 5 | 10 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:23.633 | 0.812 | 24 |
| 6 | 7 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:23.845 | 1.024 | 26 |
| 7 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:23.904 | 1.083 | 25 |
| 8 | 9 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:23.983 | 1.162 | 24 |
| 9 | 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1:24.152 | 1.331 | 24 |
| 10 | 15 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:24.268 | 1.447 | 27 |
| 11 | 18 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:24.300 | 1.479 | 23 |
| 12 | 14 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:24.394 | 1.573 | 19 |
| 13 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:24.546 | 1.725 | 24 |
| 14 | 11 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:24.559 | 1.738 | 22 |
| 15 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:24.608 | 1.787 | 25 |
| 16 | 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:25.354 | 2.533 | 25 |
| 17 | 17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:25.559 | 2.738 | 27 |
| 18 | 12 | Jules Bianchi | Force India-Mercedes | 1:25.715 | 2.894 | 26 |
| 19 | 21 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1:26.440 | 3.619 | 27 |
| 20 | 25 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:26.705 | 3.884 | 23 |
| 21 | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1:26.755 | 3.934 | 28 |
| 22 | 24 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:27.015 | 4.194 | 24 |
| 23 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1:27.101 | 4.280 | 21 |
| 24 | 23 | Dani Clos | HRT-Cosworth | 1:28.176 | 5.355 | 24 |