Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were the first to lead the way before the Mercedes GP drivers, Michael Schumacher and Rosberg, got involved in the action. But at the end of the 90-minute session it was Rosberg who prevailed with Hamilton and Button roughly two-tenths off the pace.
Robert Kubica was fourth for Renault ahead of Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber and Schumacher. The seven-time World Champ was 1.137s adrift of his team-mate.
Report: With blue skies overhead and the track temperature sitting at 24'C, the first of the European GP's practice sessions kicked off in Valencia on Friday morning. Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes are all using their new Red Bull-styled blown-diffuser exhaust systems while test driver Paul di Resta is back in action for Force India and Christian Klien for Hispania Racing.
With the introduction of new upgrades, many of the teams opted for several installation laps with Michael Schumacher completing three when the back end of his W01 stepped out widely. However, he wasn't the only one struggling on the dirty track as Tonio Liuzzi missed his braking point and had to take to the escape road.
Lucas di Grassi posted the first time of the session, a 1:49.569, before shaving seconds off his time while Jenson Button joined the action with a 1:43.245. A nervous twitch from Klien almost put him into the barriers before he grabbed hold of the car and crossed the line in third place.
Lewis Hamilton claimed second place behind his team-mate as McLaren set the early pace.
Kamui Kobayashi improved to second place, slotting in between the two McLarens. Problems for Bruno Senna as his left side mirror fell off the car, hitting him on the helmet before falling onto the track and into the path of Sebastien Buemi, who rode over it as he climbed to third place ahead of his team-mate Jaime Alguersuari, Timo Glock and Hamilton.
36 minutes into the session was red flagged due to the debris caused by Senna's mirror, which littered the track. The session resumed five minutes later with track temperature up to 30'C.
Back out on track there was a frantic flurry with the drivers finally getting down to some serious running. Schumacher took the P1 slot with a 1:42.369, Felipe Massa took sixth place, Pedro de la Rosa eighth, di Resta sixth, Massa second, di Resta seventh, Rubens Barrichello 11th, Fernando Alonso second, Nico Hulkenberg fifth and Nico Rosberg second.
Rosberg was the next to take charge of the session, a 1:41.862 for the Mercedes GP drive while Button returned to the P2 slot, 0.384s off the pace. Schumacher had to take to the escape road at Turn 2, performing a U-turn to get back on track. Robert Kubica climbed to second place while Hamilton took third. Both, though, were dropped as Button topped the timesheets with a 1:41.383.
Button's reign was short-lived as Hamilton went quickest, 0.044s up on his team-mate. Mark Webber moved to sixth place while Alonso stopped at the end of the pit lane in a simulation of what it will be like for his car to sit on the grid ahead of the start of the race as Ferrari continue testing their new exhaust system.
Rosberg took over at the front of the pack with a 1:41.175, edging ahead of the McLarens. Sebastian Vettel improved to sixth place as yet another Sauber took to the escape roads. Returning to the action, Hamlton put his McLaren into a minor spin but was able to continue on his way without any problems, although it did cost him over four seconds.
The session ended with Rosberg on top, followed by Hamilton, Button, Kubica, Massa, Vettel, Webber and Schumacher.
Times:
01. Rosberg Mercedes 1:41.175 16 laps
02. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:41.339 + 0.164 19 laps
03. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:41.383 + 0.208 21 laps
04. Kubica Renault 1:41.715 + 0.540 20 laps
05. Massa Ferrari 1:42.182 + 1.007 21 laps
06. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:42.216 + 1.041 24 laps
07. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:42.275 + 1.100 17 laps
08. Schumacher Mercedes 1:42.312 + 1.137 18 laps
09. Alonso Ferrari 1:42.421 + 1.246 22 laps
10. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:42.463 + 1.288 21 laps
11. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:42.707 + 1.532 23 laps
12. Petrov Renault 1:42.962 + 1.787 17 laps
13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:43.310 + 2.135 23 laps
14. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:43.380 + 2.205 19 laps
15. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:43.397 + 2.222 21 laps
16. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:43.437 + 2.262 18 laps
17. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:43.729 + 2.554 21 laps
18. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:44.183 + 3.008 21 laps
19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:44.491 + 3.316 21 laps
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:45.653 + 4.478 23 laps
21. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:47.123 + 5.948 17 laps
22. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:47.285 + 6.110 18 laps
23. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:47.343 + 6.168 14 laps
24. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:47.356 + 6.181 24 laps
Source: Planet-F1
