Australian GP Practice 1: Button leads McLaren 1-2
Jenson Button led a McLaren one-two in the first free practice session of the 2012 Formula 1 season in Melbourne.
Damp conditions early on meant relatively little serious running until the final half an hour, with Button going quickest by 0.245 seconds over teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Michael Schumacher was third for Mercedes, followed by Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and home hero Mark Webber (Red Bull).
Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Behind | Laps |
| 1. | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m27.560s | +0.000s | 11 |
| 2. | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m27.805s | +0.245 | 14 |
| 3. | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1m28.235s | +0.675 | 17 |
| 4. | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1m28.360s | +0.800 | 21 |
| 5. | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1m28.467s | +0.907 | 21 |
| 6. | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m28.683s | +1.123 | 22 |
| 7. | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1m28.908s | +1.348 | 23 |
| 8. | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1m29.415s | +1.855 | 16 |
| 9. | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1m29.565s | +2.005 | 8 |
| 10. | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1m29.722s | +2.162 | 26 |
| 11. | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1m29.790s | +2.230 | 21 |
| 12. | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1m29.865s | +2.305 | 17 |
| 13. | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1m29.881s | +2.321 | 18 |
| 14. | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 1m29.953s | +2.393 | 21 |
| 15. | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1m30.124s | +2.564 | 22 |
| 16. | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1m30.515s | +2.955 | 16 |
| 17. | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1m30.586s | +3.026 | 16 |
| 18. | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1m30.743s | +3.183 | 11 |
| 19. | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1m31.178s | +3.618 | 17 |
| 20. | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1m31.983s | +4.423 | 8 |
| 21. | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1m34.730s | +7.170 | 8 |
| 22. | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1m40.256s | +12.696 | 11 |
| 23. | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | no time | – | 3 |
| 24. | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | no time | – | 0 |