All eyes were on the brand new duo of Alexander Rossi and André Lotterer, making their F1 debuts. Unfortunately for Rossi, it emerged halfway through the session that he wouldn't be in the car for the rest of the weekend. He went on to finish behind Jules Bianchi, whilst Lotterer was a tenth of a second up on Marcus Ericsson.

At the top, Mercedes led the way with Nico Rosberg marginally fastest, with Fernando Alonso best of the rest. Jenson Button, continuing to run his pink helmet, finished well in fourth, whilst the Red Bull duo were down in 9th and 11th.

It was a quiet session overall, a few drivers exploring the limits of the track, and a handful having issues. Romain Grosjean struggled with his rear tyres, whilst Kimi Räikkönen had some temperature related problems.