Ak mal v sobotu v Malajzii Red Bully niekto poraziť, mal to byť McLaren. Sebastian Vettel si ale svojím čistým kolom v závere kvalifikácie zabezpečil pole position pred Lewisom Hamiltonom o 0,104 s.
Výsledky kvalifikácie:
| Pozícia | Jazdec | Tím | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Strata |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:37,468 | 1:35,934 | 1:34,870 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:36,861 | 1:35,852 | 1:34,974 | 0,104 |
| 3 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:37,924 | 1:36,080 | 1:35,179 | 0,309 |
| 4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:37,033 | 1:35,569 | 1:35,200 | 0,330 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:36,897 | 1:36,320 | 1:35,802 | 0,932 |
| 6 | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | 1:37,224 | 1:36,811 | 1:36,124 | 1,254 |
| 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:36,744 | 1:36,557 | 1:36,251 | 1,381 |
| 8 | Vitalij Petrov | Renault | 1:37,210 | 1:36,642 | 1:36,324 | 1,454 |
| 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:37,316 | 1:36,388 | 1:36,809 | 1,939 |
| 10 | Kamuj Kobajaši | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:36,994 | 1:36,691 | 1:36,820 | 1,950 |
| 11 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:36,904 | 1:37,035 | ||
| 12 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:37,693 | 1:37,160 | ||
| 13 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 1:37,677 | 1:37,347 | ||
| 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:38,045 | 1:37,370 | ||
| 15 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1:38,163 | 1:37,496 | ||
| 16 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:37,759 | 1:37,528 | ||
| 17 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:37,693 | 1:37,593 | ||
| 18 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 1:38,276 | |||
| 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 1:38,645 | |||
| 20 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 1:38,791 | |||
| 21 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:40,648 | |||
| 22 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:41,001 | |||
| 23 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | 1:41,549 | |||
| 24 | Narajn Kartykejan | HRT-Cosworth | 1:42,574 | |||
| 107% limit | 1:43,516 |
