Lewis Hamilton got off to a flying start to set the quickest lap of first free practice using his Australian GP engine which will be an added bonus for the Briton.
The Mercedes driver jumped ahead of Kimi Raikkonen by a tenth and a half to knock the Finn down to second. Raikkonen was clearly happier with his car after struggling in Melbourne.
The second Mercedes of Nico Rosberg was third, just ahead of the McLaren duo of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen. The Dane however looked to have suffered a power failure, but the team quickly reset a sensor and he was back out.
Jean-Eric Vergne was the highest placed Renault-powered car, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel in seventh whilst Daniel Ricciardo was back in 12th.
Several cars took to the gravel a they discovered a very green circuit in Sepang. That included Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.
Meanwhile Lotus’s struggles continued at the back of the pack with just a handful of laps completed between the pairing.
FP1 Full Times – 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:40.691 | 19 | |
| 02 | K. Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:40.843 | 0.152 | 20 |
| 03 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:41.028 | 0.337 | 19 |
| 04 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:41.111 | 0.420 | 20 |
| 05 | K. Magnussen | McLaren | 1:41.274 | 0.583 | 18 |
| 06 | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:41.402 | 0.711 | 15 |
| 07 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:41.523 | 0.832 | 9 |
| 08 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:41.642 | 0.951 | 19 |
| 09 | F. Massa | Williams | 1:41.686 | 0.995 | 23 |
| 10 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:41.830 | 1.139 | 22 |
| 11 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:41.923 | 1.232 | 14 |
| 12 | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:42.117 | 1.426 | 20 |
| 13 | A. Sutil | Sauber | 1:42.365 | 1.674 | 21 |
| 14 | D. Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:42.869 | 2.178 | 21 |
| 15 | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:42.904 | 2.213 | 23 |
| 16 | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 1:43.825 | 3.134 | 18 |
| 17 | M. Ericsson | Caterham | 1:45.775 | 5.084 | 24 |
| 18 | M. Chilton | Marussia | 1:46.911 | 6.220 | 10 |
| 19 | K. Kobayashi | Caterham | 1:51.180 | 10.489 | 5 |
| 20 | S. Perez | Force India | No time | 2 | |
| 21 | P. Maldonado | Lotus | No time | 2 | |
| 22 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | No time | 4 |
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