McLaren’s strong start to the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship has continued in Sepang, with Lewis Hamilton emerging fastest from Practice 1.
The Briton’s best time of 1:38.02s proved 0.51s quicker than Sebastian Vettel’s best for Red Bull, with Nico Rosberg, Michael Schumacher and Romain Grosjean rounding out the top five.
Australians Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo were sixth and 18th fastest respectively.
Finnish youngster Vallteri Bottas drove Bruno Senna’s Williams in the 90 minute session, out-pacing the team’s lead driver Pastor Maldonado on his way to 11th.
Australian Grand Prix winner Jenson Button was ninth after his progressed was slowed by an oil leak.
Practice 2 will get underway at 1700 Australian (AEDT) time.
See below for the Practice 1 times
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:38.021 | |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:38.535 | 0.514 |
| 3 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:38.813 | 0.792 |
| 4 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:38.826 | 0.805 |
| 5 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:38.919 | 0.898 |
| 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:39.092 | 1.071 |
| 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:39.128 | 1.107 |
| 8 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:39.298 | 1.277 |
| 9 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:39.323 | 1.302 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:39.440 | 1.419 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1:39.724 | 1.703 |
| 12 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:39.783 | 1.762 |
| 13 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:39.896 | 1.875 |
| 14 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:39.910 | 1.889 |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:39.980 | 1.959 |
| 16 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:40.099 | 2.078 |
| 17 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1:40.247 | 2.226 |
| 18 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:40.469 | 2.448 |
| 19 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1:40.857 | 2.836 |
| 20 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:41.085 | 3.064 |
| 21 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:43.170 | 5.149 |
| 22 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:44.580 | 6.559 |
| 23 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1:45.360 | 7.339 |
| 24 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1:45.528 | 7.507 |
See below for Speedcafe.com’s F1 Sepang Race Guide
