Lewis Hamilton continued McLaren’s good form after topping the first practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix by over half a second.
Sebastian Vettel came in second quickest for Red Bull, followed by the Mercedes duo, with Nico Rosberg just ahead of Michael Schumacher.
Romain Grosjean completed the top give fastest cars in Sepang.
Whilst Hamilton topped the session, his team-mate Jenson Button suffered an oil leak which hampered his running. He ended up ninth quickest.
Just ahead of him were Paul di Resta, Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber.
Williams test driver Valtteri Bottas made his debut during an official session in the FW34. His time of 1:39.724 placed him 11th ahead of his Pastor Maldonado.
Meanwhile Felipe Massa finished ahead of Fernando Alonso, the Ferrari pair back in P13 and P15 respectively.
HRT continue their poor form with both drivers over seven seconds off the lead pace, whilst Narain Karthikeyan stopped on-track with suspected gearbox problem.
2012 Malaysian GP FP1 Results:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:38.021 | 19 | |
| 02. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:38.535 | +0.514 | 21 |
| 03. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:38.813 | +0.792 | 21 |
| 04. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:38.826 | +0.805 | 19 |
| 05. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:38.919 | +0.898 | 17 |
| 06. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:39.092 | +1.071 | 20 |
| 07. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:39.128 | +1.107 | 22 |
| 08. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:39.298 | +1.277 | 23 |
| 09. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:39.323 | +1.302 | 15 |
| 10. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:39.440 | +1.419 | 19 |
| 11. | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:39.724 | +1.703 | 23 |
| 12. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:39.783 | +1.762 | 23 |
| 13. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:39.896 | +1.875 | 16 |
| 14. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:39.910 | +1.889 | 21 |
| 15. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:39.980 | +1.959 | 23 |
| 16. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:40.099 | +2.078 | 23 |
| 17. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:40.247 | +2.226 | 19 |
| 18. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:40.469 | +2.448 | 23 |
| 19. | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:40.857 | +2.836 | 25 |
| 20. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:41.085 | +3.064 | 23 |
| 21. | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:43.170 | +5.149 | 18 |
| 22. | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:44.580 | +6.559 | 14 |
| 23. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:45.360 | +7.339 | 8 |
| 24. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:45.528 | +7.507 | 18 |
