GP Australia, Free Practice 1: Kubica the fastest

Best time for Robert Kubica in the first free practice session on Friday of the 2010 Australian Grand Prix. The session became lively only after the first half with the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and the Renault of Kubica who took turns in command. Hamilton was initially fastest until Rosberg took the lead. Kubica set the best time with 15 minutes to go, lapping in 1.26.927.

Fourth and sixth times for the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, separated by Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull. Hamilton then finished seventh ahead of Buemi, Petrov and Liuzzi.

Problems for Kamui Kobayashi who caused two red flags. The Japanese first hit a cone inside turn 11, losing his front wing and then ending up in the gravel at turn 12. He returned to the track 20 minutes later with a new wing and went off the track again at turn 3. Problems also for his Sauber teammate, Pedro de la Rosa, stopped 10 minutes from time with a clutch failure.

 Pos Driver Team Lap Time
 1. Kubica Renault 1:26.927 22
 2. Rosberg Mercedes 1:27.126 + 0.199 18
 3. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.482 + 0.555 22
 4. Massa Ferrari 1:27.511 + 0.584 18
 5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:27.686 + 0.759 23
 6. Alonso Ferrari 1:27.747 + 0.820 21
 7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.793 + 0.866 22
 8. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:28.014 + 1.087 21
 9. Petrov Renault 1:28.114 + 1.187 25
10. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:28.192 + 1.265 18
11. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:28.537 + 1.610 25
12. Schumacher Mercedes 1:28.550 + 1.623 19
13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:28.572 + 1.645 21
14. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:28.683 + 1.756 22
15. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:29.465 + 2.538 13
16. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:29.712 + 2.785 18
17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:30.249 + 3.322 26
18. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:31.588 + 4.661 5
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:31.652 + 4.725 13
20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:31.654 + 4.727 26
21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:32.831 + 5.904 25
22. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:33.401 + 6.474 24
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:34.251 + 7.324 19
24. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:34.924 + 7.998 8