Sebastian Vettel získal v Abú Zabí svoju štrnástu pole position v sezóne a vyrovnal tak rekord Nigela Mansella.
Výsledky kvalifikácie na VC Abú Zabí:
| Pozícia | Jazdec | Tím | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Strata |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:40,478 | 1:38,516 | 1:38,481 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:39,782 | 1:38,434 | 1:38,622 | 0,141 |
| 3 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:40,227 | 1:39,097 | 1:38,631 | 0,150 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:40,167 | 1:38,821 | 1:38,858 | 0,377 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:41,380 | 1:39,058 | 1:39,058 | 0,577 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:41,592 | 1:39,623 | 1:39,695 | 1,214 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:41,120 | 1:39,420 | 1:39,773 | 1,292 |
| 8 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:42,605 | 1:40,554 | 1:40,662 | 2,181 |
| 9 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:40,595 | 1:40,205 | 1:40,768 | 2,287 |
| 10 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:41,064 | 1:40,414 | ||
| 11 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:41,311 | 1:40,874 | ||
| 12 | Vitalij Petrov | Renault | 1:40,955 | 1:40,919 | ||
| 13 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:41,737 | 1:41,009 | ||
| 14 | Bruno Senna | Renault | 1:41,391 | 1:41,079 | ||
| 15 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 1:41,386 | 1:41,162 | ||
| 16 | Kamuj Kobajaši | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:41,613 | 1:41,240 | ||
| 17 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 1:42,258 | 1:41,760 | ||
| 18 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 1:42,979 | |||
| 19 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 1:43,884 | |||
| 20 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:44,515 | |||
| 21 | Daniel Ricciardo | HRT-Cosworth | 1:44,641 | |||
| 22 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:44,699 | |||
| 23 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | 1:45,159 | |||
| 24 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | Notime | |||
| Q1 107 % | 1:46,766 |
