Veľkú cenu Európy aj tento rok hostí španielska Valencia. Kvalifikácia, predovšetkým jej druhá časť, bola neuveriteľne vyrovnaná. 13. jazdec strácal na vedúceho iba 0,250 s. Do poslednej časti sa tak nedostali Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher ani Felipe Massa.
Výsledky kvalifikácie na VC Európy 2012:
| Pozícia | Jazdec | Tím | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Strata |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:39,626 | 1:38,530 | 1:38,086 | - |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:39,169 | 1:38,616 | 1:38,410 | 0,324 |
| 3 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:38,825 | 1:38,570 | 1:38,475 | 0,389 |
| 4 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:39,530 | 1:38,489 | 1:38,505 | 0,419 |
| 5 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:39,464 | 1:38,531 | 1:38,513 | 0,427 |
| 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:39,061 | 1:38,504 | 1:38,623 | 0,537 |
| 7 | Kamuj Kobajaši | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:39,651 | 1:38,703 | 1:38,741 | 0,655 |
| 8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:39,009 | 1:38,689 | 1:38,752 | 0,666 |
| 9 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:39,622 | 1:38,563 | 1:38,801 | 0,715 |
| 10 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:38,858 | 1:38,519 | 1:38,992 | 0,906 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:39,409 | 1:38,707 | - | - |
| 12 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:39,447 | 1:38,770 | - | - |
| 13 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:39,388 | 1:38,780 | - | - |
| 14 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 1:39,449 | 1:39,207 | - | - |
| 15 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:39,353 | 1:39,358 | - | - |
| 16 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1:40,087 | 1:40,295 | - | - |
| 17 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:39,924 | 1:40,358 | - | - |
| 18 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:40,203 | - | - | - |
| 19 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:40,395 | - | - | - |
| 20 | Vitalij Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1:40,457 | - | - | - |
| 21 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1:42,171 | - | - | - |
| 22 | Narajn Kartykejan | HRT-Cosworth | 1:42,527 | - | - | - |
| 23 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:42,675 | - | - | - |
| - | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | - | - | - | - |
| - | Q1 107 % | - | 1:45.742 | - | - | - |
