McLaren were in dominant form in Abu Dhabi, with Lewis Hamilton topping the times ahead of his team-mate Jenson Button.
The McLaren pair were half a second ahead of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, with Fernando Alonso a further three-tenths back, splitting the two Red Bulls.
Michael Schumacher set the sixth fastest time, a 1:44.694, with Williams’ Pastor Maldonado not far behind.
The session was fairly uneventful in terms of errors, with just Giedo van der Garde suffering an engine failure which stopped him from completing a single timed lap.
FP1 Results for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix:
| # | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 4 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:43.285 | 21 | |
| 02 | 3 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:43.618 | 0.333 | 19 |
| 03 | 1 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:44.050 | 0.765 | 23 |
| 04 | 5 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:44.366 | 1.081 | 21 |
| 05 | 2 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:44.542 | 1.257 | 22 |
| 06 | 7 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:44.694 | 1.409 | 23 |
| 07 | 18 | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:45.115 | 1.830 | 26 |
| 08 | 8 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:45.194 | 1.909 | 19 |
| 09 | 19 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:45.347 | 2.062 | 25 |
| 10 | 9 | K. Räikkönen | Lotus | 1:45.422 | 2.137 | 15 |
| 11 | 6 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:45.567 | 2.282 | 24 |
| 12 | 12 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:45.587 | 2.302 | 20 |
| 13 | 14 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:45.722 | 2.437 | 20 |
| 14 | 10 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:45.743 | 2.458 | 20 |
| 15 | 11 | J. Bianchi | Force India | 1:45.769 | 2.484 | 22 |
| 16 | 15 | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:45.811 | 2.526 | 22 |
| 17 | 16 | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:46.649 | 3.364 | 24 |
| 18 | 17 | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:46.708 | 3.423 | 26 |
| 19 | 20 | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:47.418 | 4.133 | 23 |
| 20 | 24 | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:47.891 | 4.606 | 21 |
| 21 | 22 | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:48.354 | 5.069 | 22 |
| 22 | 25 | M. Chilton | Marussia | 1:48.887 | 5.602 | 22 |
| 23 | 23 | Q. Hua Ma | HRT | 1:50.487 | 7.202 | 20 |
| 24 | 21 | G. van der Garde | Caterham | No time | 3 |
