| Race Name: | LXXVII Qantas Australian Grand Prix |
| Track: | Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit |
| Round: | 1 of 20 |
| Race date: | Sunday, March 18th, 2012 |
| Race time: | 17.00 |
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
| Driver | Jenson Button | Sebastian Vettel | Lewis Hamilton |
| Constructor | McLaren-Mercedes | Red Bull-Renault | McLaren-Mercedes |
| Car | McLaren MP4-27 | Red Bull RB8 | McLaren MP4-27 |
| Engine | Mercedes FO 108Z | Renault RS27-2012 | Mercedes FO 108Z |
| Tyre | Pirelli | Pirelli | Pirelli |
| Time | 1:34:09.565 | 1:34:11.704 | 1:34:13.640 |
| Gap | 2.139 secs | 4.075 secs |
| P | No. | Driver | Fri Prac 1 | Fri Prac 2 | Sat Prac | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Qual | Race | Total | |
| 1 | 4 | Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes | 1:27.805 14 | 1:33.252 11 | 1:25.681 18 | 1:26.800 6 | 1:25.626 3 | 1:24.922 5 | 1:24.922 14 | 1:29.538 58 | 1:24.922 115 | |
| 2 | 3 | Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes | 1:27.560 11 | 1:33.039 18 | 1:25.906 17 | 1:26.832 6 | 1:25.663 3 | 1:25.074 6 | 1:25.074 15 | 1:29.187 58 | 1:25.074 119 | |
| 3 | 10 | Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault | 1:30.515 16 | 1:32.822 11 | 1:25.758 21 | 1:26.498 9 | 1:25.845 6 | 1:25.302 6 | 1:25.302 21 | No Time 1 | 1:25.302 70 | |
| 4 | 7 | Michael Schumacher Mercedes | 1:28.235 17 | 1:29.183 16 | 1:26.078 14 | 1:26.586 7 | 1:25.571 5 | 1:25.336 6 | 1:25.336 18 | 1:34.021 10 | 1:25.336 75 | |
| 5 | 8 | Nico Rosberg Mercedes | 1:28.683 22 | 1:32.184 17 | 1:25.929 23 | 1:26.763 5 | 1:25.469 5 | 1:25.686 6 | 1:25.686 16 | 1:30.931 58 | 1:25.469 136 | |
| 6 | 2 | Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault | 1:28.467 21 | 1:32.296 20 | 1:25.900 20 | 1:27.117 7 | 1:26.297 7 | 1:25.651 3 | 1:25.651 17 | 1:29.438 58 | 1:25.651 136 | |
| 7 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault | 1:29.790 21 | 1:32.194 19 | 1:26.211 12 | 1:26.773 9 | 1:25.982 3 | 1:25.668 6 | 1:25.668 18 | 1:29.417 58 | 1:25.668 128 | |
| 8 | 18 | Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault | 1:29.415 16 | 1:34.108 21 | 1:26.470 17 | 1:26.803 11 | 1:26.206 6 | 1:25.908 3 | 1:25.908 20 | 1:30.254 57 | 1:25.908 131 | |
| 9 | 14 | Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari | 1:29.722 26 | 1:30.709 14 | 1:26.755 21 | 1:26.182 7 | 1:26.590 5 | 1:26.590 12 | 1:30.620 58 | 1:26.182 131 | ||
| 10 | 12 | Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes | 1:29.865 17 | 1:29.292 19 | 1:27.029 23 | 1:27.464 9 | 1:26.314 6 | 1:26.451 3 | 1:26.451 18 | No Time 0 | 1:26.314 77 | |
| 11 | 16 | Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:28.908 23 | 1:34.604 31 | 1:26.723 17 | 1:27.024 8 | 1:26.319 7 | No Time 1 | No Time 16 | 1:30.592 58 | 1:26.319 145 | |
| 12 | 17 | Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:31.178 17 | 1:34.485 29 | 1:26.733 15 | 1:26.493 8 | 1:26.429 4 | 1:26.429 12 | 1:30.274 58 | 1:26.429 131 | ||
| 13 | 5 | Fernando Alonso Ferrari | 1:28.360 21 | 1:30.341 13 | 1:27.323 19 | 1:26.688 9 | 1:26.494 3 | 1:26.494 12 | 1:30.277 58 | 1:26.494 123 | ||
| 14 | 15 | Sergio Pérez Sauber-Ferrari | 1:30.124 22 | 1:30.199 23 | 1:26.632 20 | 1:26.596 8 | No Time 3 | No Time 11 | 1:30.843 58 | 1:26.596 134 | ||
| 15 | 19 | Bruno Senna Williams-Renault | 1:29.953 21 | 1:34.312 17 | 1:27.119 20 | 1:27.004 10 | 1:26.663 6 | 1:26.663 16 | 1:30.855 52 | 1:26.663 126 | ||
| 16 | 9 | Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault | 1:29.565 8 | 1:34.275 7 | 1:26.737 19 | 1:27.758 9 | 1:27.758 9 | 1:30.759 58 | 1:26.737 101 | |||
| 17 | 11 | Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes | 1:29.881 18 | 1:31.466 13 | 1:27.428 22 | 1:27.469 10 | 1:27.086 6 | 1:27.086 16 | 1:30.605 58 | 1:27.086 127 | ||
| 18 | 6 | Felipe Massa Ferrari | 1:30.743 11 | 1:31.505 14 | 1:28.023 19 | 1:27.633 8 | 1:27.497 8 | 1:27.497 16 | 1:31.940 46 | 1:27.497 106 | ||
| 19 | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault | 1:30.586 16 | 1:31.932 16 | 1:28.341 19 | 1:28.679 7 | 1:28.679 7 | 1:33.693 38 | 1:28.341 96 | |||
| 20 | 21 | Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault | 1:31.983 8 | 1:32.767 15 | 1:28.702 11 | 1:29.018 8 | 1:29.018 8 | 1:33.214 34 | 1:28.702 76 | |||
| 21 | 24 | Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth | 1:34.730 8 | 1:32.632 17 | 1:30.728 13 | 1:30.923 10 | 1:30.923 10 | 1:34.253 57 | 1:30.728 105 | |||
| 22 | 25 | Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth | 1:40.256 11 | 1:34.770 13 | 1:31.225 14 | 1:31.670 9 | 1:31.670 9 | 1:35.011 53 | 1:31.225 100 | |||
| 23 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth | No Time 0 | No Time 1 | 1:33.114 12 | 1:33.495 6 | 1:33.495 6 | 1:33.114 19 | ||||
| 24 | 23 | Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth | No Time 3 | 1:42.627 16 | 1:33.261 13 | 1:33.643 6 | 1:33.643 6 | 1:33.261 38 |