The drivers started off easy on Friday morning, as it was only after the mid portion of the practice session that they started setting some fastest times. The two McLarens driven by Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button initially switched places on top of the classification, after which Rosberg joined in and set a fastest lap of his own.
Kubica surprised everybody some 15 minutes to go, by stopping the clock at 1:26.927. Button had to settle for the 3rd fastest time, while followed by Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. Hamilton ended the session in 7th place, followed by Sebastien Buemi, Vitaly Petrov and Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Formula One rookie Paul di Resta scored an impressive 11th place in P1, less than 4 tenths of a second behind Liuzzi and, more importantly, ahead of 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher (who was eventually some 1.6 seconds off pace).
Local hero Mark Webber had to settle for the 14th best time of the Friday morning action, almost a full second slower than his Red Bull teammate.
The first hour and a half of action in Australia was not drama-free, as Kamui Kobayashi damaged the front wing of his C29 when clipping the cone on the inside of Turn 11, after which he ran wide (into the gravel) in Turn 12. The session was red-flagged and the Japanese driver went back into the garage to have a new front wing fitted, but in his very outlap he broke it again while braking in Turn 3. He went off and caused debris in that area to enter the track, which is why the organizers red-flagged the session for the second and last time this morning.
Further off-track excursions were provided by the two Lotus drivers Jarno Trulli (who had to sit out the first half of P1 due to a differential issue with his car) and Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov. Also, Virgin's Timo Glock completed only 8 laps this morning due to a gearbox oil leak.
01. Robert Kubica (Renault) 1:26.927
02. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1:27.126
03. Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:27.482
04. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1:27.511
05. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 1:27.686
06. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1:27.747
07. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:27.793
08. Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:28.014
09. Vitaly Petrov (Renault) 1:28.114
10. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India-Mercedes) 1:28.192
11. Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) 1:28.537
12. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) 1:28.550
13. Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:28.572
14. Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 1:28.683
15. Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber-Ferrari) 1:29.465
16. Rubens Barrichello (Williams-Cosworth) 1:29.712
17. Nico Hulkenberg (Williams-Cosworth) 1:30.249
18. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari) 1:31.588
19. Jarno Trulli (Lotus-Cosworth) 1:31.652
20. Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus-Cosworth) 1:31.654
21. Lucas di Grassi (Virgin-Cosworth) 1:32.831
22. Karun Chandhok (HRT-Cosworth) 1:33.401
23. Bruno Senna (HRT-Cosworth) 1:34.251
24. Timo Glock (Virgin-Cosworth) 1:34.924
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