Mark Webber topped first practice for the European Grand Prix, leading a distant Vitaly Petrov in second with a gap of over eight tenths.
The Red Bull driver set a time of 1:40.403.
Nico Hulkenberg, sitting in for Paul di Resta, lost the rear of his Force India at turn 12 and made contact with the wall ending his session.
Several other drivers ran wide at that particular corner thanks to the thick layer of dust which coats the street circuit.
Timo Glock suffered a spin exiting turn four but managed to avoid the walls lining the track. His error resulted in a yellow flag for the remainder of the session as only two minutes remained on the clock.
European GP Free Practice 1 Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:40.403 | 22 | |
| 02. | V. Petrov | Renault | 1:41.227 | +0.824 | 20 |
| 03. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:41.239 | +0.836 | 22 |
| 04. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:41.510 | +1.107 | 23 |
| 05. | N. Heidfeld | Renault | 1:41.580 | +1.177 | 24 |
| 06. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:41.758 | +1.355 | 23 |
| 07. | J. Button | Mclaren | 1:41.926 | +1.523 | 14 |
| 08. | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:41.955 | +1.552 | 20 |
| 09. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:42.043 | +1.640 | 22 |
| 10. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1:42.216 | +1.813 | 29 |
| 11. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:42.270 | +1.867 | 26 |
| 12. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:42.412 | +2.009 | 27 |
| 13. | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:42.704 | +2.301 | 23 |
| 14. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:42.738 | +2.335 | 20 |
| 15. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:42.841 | +2.438 | 28 |
| 16. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:42.941 | +2.538 | 21 |
| 17. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:43.201 | +2.798 | 18 |
| 18. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:43.769 | +3.366 | 7 |
| 19. | H. Kovalainen | Team Lotus | 1:44.136 | +3.733 | 17 |
| 20. | J. d’Ambrosio | Virgin | 1:45.026 | +4.623 | 17 |
| 21. | T. Glock | Virgin | 1:45.221 | +4.818 | 19 |
| 22. | V. Liuzzi | Hispania | 1:45.494 | +5.091 | 24 |
| 23. | N. Karthikeyan | Hispania | 1:46.926 | +6.523 | 27 |
| 24. | K. Chandhok | Team Lotus | 2 |
