The session started with a great delay, due to the thick fog that covered the Circuit of the Americas. Finally, forty minutes later than planned, has been turned on the green light for an hour of training with very cold conditions, 16 °C in temperature and 20 ° C on the asphalt.
Heikki Kovalainen was the first driver on the track, with his new Lotus to drive here and in Brazil, due to the operation that caused the loss of Kimi Raikkonen. The other “new” for this session were Alexander Rossi at Caterham, in place of Giedo van der Garde, Rodolfo Gonzalez in place of Jules Bianchi and Daniil Kvyat in the position of Jean Eric Vergne. However, after fifteen minutes the session was stopped due to more problems with the medical helicopter, that we have not been specified what they were. The only thing we have learned is that the helicopter was not in its place.
Finally, we have enjoyed 32 minutes of action on track. Lewis Hamilton has had a new chassis, after learning that the former had broken in India. Fernando Alonso went on track improving all records, and has remained in the lead until the end, closely followed by Jenson Button and Valtteri Bottas. Heikki Kovalainen had a good start , being very close to his teammate Grosjean, while Rodolfo Gonzalez was doing laps in very low times behind Chilton and the Venezuelan has seen his borrowed car broke down at the end of the session. Rossi was ahead of Pic by 6/10 and Kvyat has been to two tenths behind Ricciardo.
| P | Driver | Team | Time | Diff. | Laps |
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:38.343 | 16 | |
| 2 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:38.371 | 0.028 | 25 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:38.388 | 0.045 | 17 |
| 4 | Esteban Gutiérrez | Sauber | 1:38.532 | 0.189 | 18 |
| 5 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:38.657 | 0.314 | 21 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:38.979 | 0.636 | 21 |
| 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:39.005 | 0.662 | 17 |
| 8 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | 1:39.083 | 0.740 | 17 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1:39.158 | 0.815 | 17 |
| 10 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | 1:39.200 | 0.857 | 15 |
| 11 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:39.238 | 0.895 | 13 |
| 12 | Sergio Pérez | McLaren | 1:39.256 | 0.913 | 17 |
| 13 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus | 1:39.487 | 1.144 | 18 |
| 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India | 1:39.699 | 1.356 | 15 |
| 15 | Paul di Resta | Force India | 1:39.836 | 1.493 | 15 |
| 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR | 1:39.863 | 1.520 | 19 |
| 17 | Daniil Kvyat | STR | 1:40.065 | 1.722 | 20 |
| 18 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1:40.662 | 2.319 | 21 |
| 19 | Alexander Rossi | Caterham | 1:41.399 | 3.056 | 21 |
| 20 | Max Chilton | Marussia | 1:41.605 | 1.262 | 19 |
| 21 | Charles Pic | Caterham | 1:42.054 | 3.711 | 19 |
| 22 | Rodolfo González | Marussia | 1:43.716 | 5.373 | 17 |
