The first Friday practice of the Malaysian Grand Prix was paced by Infiniti Red Bull’s Mark Webber, who turned in the quickest lap of the session at 1 minute, 36.935 seconds.
He and Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel were split at the top of the time sheets by last week’s winner at Australia, Kimi Raikkonen, who posted the second-quickest lap at 1 minute, 37.003 seconds in his Lotus despite being the last driver to run a timed lap due to issues with his car’s KERS system. Vettel was P3 in the practice with a time of 1 minute, 37.104 seconds.
Defending Malaysian GP champion Fernando Alonso was fourth-fastest for Ferrari (1:37.319) and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg rounded out the top five (1:37.588).
Adrian Sutil managed to be sixth-quickest for Force India despite damaging his front wing after running over some curbs on the circuit. Positions 7-10 were filled by Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Paul di Resta (Force India), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Romain Grosjean (Lotus).
As for McLaren, which struggled mightily with the MP4-28 in Melbourne, Jenson Button and Sergio Perez were only able to ascend to 11th and 13th-fastest in the session, respectively.
Formula One – Malaysian Grand Prix
Friday Practice One times
1. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:36.935
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, 1:37.003
3. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:37.104
4. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:37.319
5. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:37.588
6. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:37.769
7. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:37.771
8. Paul Di Resta, Force India, 1:37.773
9. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:37.840
10. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:37.915
11. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:38.173
12. Pastor Maldonado, Williams, 1:38.673
13. Sergio Perez, McLaren, 1:38.830
14. Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:39.054
15. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber, 1:39.204
16. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:39.208
17. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1:39.284
18. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso, 1:39.567
19. Giedo Van Der Garde, Caterham, 1:40.728
20. Jules Bianchi, Marussia, 1:40.996
21. Charles Pic, Caterham, 1:41.163
22. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1:41.513