Robert Kubica (Renault) a été le plus rapide de la première séance d’essais libres en vue du Grand Prix d’Australie. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) a terminé la séance au 2e rang, devant Jenson Button (McLaren).
| 1 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1:26.927 | 22 | |
| 2 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes Benz GP Ltd | 1:27.126 | 0.199 | 18 |
| 3 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:27.482 | 0.555 | 22 |
| 4 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:27.511 | 0.584 | 18 |
| 5 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:27.686 | 0.759 | 23 |
| 6 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:27.747 | 0.820 | 21 |
| 7 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:27.793 | 0.866 | 22 |
| 8 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:28.014 | 1.087 | 21 |
| 9 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1:28.114 | 1.187 | 25 |
| 10 | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1:28.192 | 1.265 | 18 |
| 11 | 0 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:28.537 | 1.610 | 25 |
| 12 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes Benz GP Ltd | 1:28.550 | 1.623 | 19 |
| 13 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 1:28.572 | 1.645 | 21 |
| 14 | 6 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:28.683 | 1.756 | 22 |
| 15 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 1:29.465 | 2.538 | 13 |
| 16 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1:29.712 | 2.785 | 18 |
| 17 | 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1:30.249 | 3.322 | 26 |
| 18 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 1:31.588 | 4.661 | 5 |
| 19 | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 1:31.652 | 4.725 | 13 |
| 20 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1:31.654 | 4.727 | 26 |
| 21 | 25 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:32.831 | 5.904 | 25 |
| 22 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1:33.401 | 6.474 | 24 |
| 23 | 20 | Karun Chandhok | HRT-Cosworth | 1:34.251 | 7.324 | 19 |
| 24 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:34.925 | 7.998 | 8 |