Hamilton's double world drivers champion team-mate Fernando Alonso, ensured it was a perfect session for the McLaren team when he claimed second fastest, less than a tenth of a second slower than his novice team-mate.
The two McLaren's were followed by the two BMW-Saubers' of Poland's Robert Kubica and German Nick Heidfeld who continued the teams impressive early season form.
Veteran British driver David Coulthard produced a morale boosting fifth place finish for his Red Bull Racing team with a best time of one minute 21.566 seconds.
The two Ferrari's of Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finn Kimi Raikkonen could only manage sixth and seventh fastest respectively.
Massa initially led the timesheets, but had to make do with his disappointing sixth place nearly half a second slower than Hamilton.
The session thankfully saw few incidents, with Spyker driver Christijan Albers' trip over the grass and gravel after running very wide at Turn 12 being the only significant error during the hour.
Practice times:
1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.233; 2. Fernando Alonso (ESP) McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.312; 3. Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 1:21.364; 4. Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 1:21.464; 5. David Coulthard (GBR) Red Bull 1:21.556; 6. Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 1:21.659; 7. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 1:21.829; 8. Anthony Davidson (GBR) Super Aguri F1 Team 1:21.845; 9. Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams-BMW 1:21.953; 10. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) Renault 1:22.067.—AFP