Kvalifikácia na poslednú veľkú cenu tejto sezóny priniesla zaujímavý výsledok. Pole position si vybojoval Sebastian Vettel na Red Bulle, druhý odštartuje Hamilton, tretí Alonso.
Mark Webber, ktorý je Alonsovi bodovo najbližšie, odštartuje piaty, vedľa neho zo šiesteho miesta bude stáť kolega Alonsa Massa.
Výsledky kvalifikácie na VC Abú Zabí:
| Pozícia | Jazdec | Tím | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Strata |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:40,318 | 1:39,874 | 1:39,394 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:40,335 | 1:40,119 | 1:39,425 | 0,031 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:40,170 | 1:40,311 | 1:39,792 | 0,398 |
| 4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:40,877 | 1:40,014 | 1:39,823 | 0,429 |
| 5 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:40,690 | 1:40,074 | 1:39,925 | 0,531 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:40,942 | 1:40,323 | 1:40,202 | 0,808 |
| 7 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1:40,904 | 1:40,476 | 1:40,203 | 0,809 |
| 8 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 1:41,222 | 1:40,452 | 1:40,516 | 1,122 |
| 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 1:40,231 | 1:40,060 | 1:40,589 | 1,195 |
| 10 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1:41,018 | 1:40,658 | 1:40,901 | 1,507 |
| 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1:41,336 | 1:40,780 | ||
| 12 | Kamui Kobayashi | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 1:41,045 | 1:40,783 | ||
| 13 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:41,473 | 1:40,914 | ||
| 14 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 1:41,409 | 1:41,113 | ||
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1:41,015 | 1:41,418 | ||
| 16 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1:41,681 | 1:41,642 | ||
| 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 1:41,707 | 1:41,738 | ||
| 18 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:41,824 | |||
| 19 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 1:43,516 | |||
| 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1:43,712 | |||
| 21 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:44,095 | |||
| 22 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:44,510 | |||
| 23 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1:45,085 | |||
| 24 | Christian Klien | HRT-Cosworth | 1:45,296 |
