Romain Grosjean continued his GP2 championship-leading form by dominating the practice session ahead of qualifying at the Nurburgring. The Frenchman set his quickest time ten minutes into the half hour session, which remained good enough for him to end the session seven tenths quicker than anyone else.
Stefano Coletti was quickest on the drivers' opening laps, but Grosjean was the first man to set a competitive lap time on his next attempt. The DAMS driver then improved two laps later to go over a second clear at the head of the timesheets.
Grosjean's rivals struggled to get close to him, with compatriot Jules Bianchi going closest, albeit eight tenths down. Most of the field returned to the pits midway through the session, though Davide Valsecchi didn't join them after running wide at the final corner and hitting the wall. Giedo van der Garde meanwhile suffered from a mechanical problem that brought an early end to his session.
There were few improvements to times in the second half of the session, though Dani Clos improved into second place as the checkered flag came out. Bianchi remained in third, with Luca Filippi fourth fastest upon his return to the Coloni team.
Charles Pic was fifth fastest, with Esteban Gutierrez sixth. Fabio Leimer was seventh ahead of Jolyon Palmer who was an encouraging eighth fastest. Coletti and Alvaro Parente rounded out the top ten.
Series returnee Adam Carroll was 22nd quickest for Super Nova.
Free Practice results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1. | Romain Grosjean | Dams | 1:40.484 | 14 | |
| 2. | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 1:41.222 | 0.738 | 13 |
| 3. | Jules Bianchi | Lotus ART | 1:41.326 | 0.842 | 13 |
| 4. | Luca Filippi | Scuderia Coloni | 1:41.330 | 0.846 | 13 |
| 5. | Charles Pic | Barwa Addax Team | 1:41.411 | 0.927 | 12 |
| 6. | Esteban Gutierrez | Lotus ART | 1:41.426 | 0.942 | 13 |
| 7. | Fabio Leimer | Rapax | 1:41.616 | 1.132 | 14 |
| 8. | Jolyon Palmer | Arden International | 1:41.716 | 1.232 | 13 |
| 9. | Stefano Coletti | Trident Racing | 1:41.748 | 1.264 | 12 |
| 10. | Alvaro Parente | Carlin | 1:41.834 | 1.350 | 13 |
| 11. | Christian Vietoris | Racing Engineering | 1:41.863 | 1.379 | 13 |
| 12. | Luiz Razia | Caterham Team AirAsia | 1:41.936 | 1.452 | 14 |
| 13. | Sam Bird | iSport International | 1:41.971 | 1.487 | 11 |
| 14. | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 1:42.049 | 1.565 | 6 |
| 15. | Michael Herck | Scuderia Coloni | 1:42.077 | 1.593 | 14 |
| 16. | Kevin Mirocha | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:42.213 | 1.729 | 12 |
| 17. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Trident Racing | 1:42.248 | 1.764 | 13 |
| 18. | Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | 1:42.250 | 1.766 | 11 |
| 19 | Josef Kral | Arden International | 1:42.312 | 1.828 | 12 |
| 20. | Fairuz Fauzy | Super Nova Racing | 1:42.335 | 1.851 | 13 |
| 21. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:42.380 | 1.896 | 9 |
| 22. | Adam Carroll | Super Nova Racing | 1:42.471 | 1.987 | 13 |
| 23. | Davide Valsecchi | Caterham Team AirAsia | 1:42.641 | 2.157 | 8 |
| 24. | Pal Varhaug | Dams | 1:42.673 | 2.189 | 13 |
| 25. | Julian Leal | Rapax | 1:42.927 | 2.443 | 14 |
| 26. | Johnny Cecotto | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:42.032 | 2.548 | 14 |
