Lewis Hamilton will start on pole position for the 21st time in his career ahead of his team-mate Jenson Button, giving McLaren their second front-row lockout in two races.
Button qualified just a tenth and a half behind his team-mate, but the duo weren’t as dominant as they were in Australia with Michael Schumacher, who starts third in his Mercedes, just a further tenth back.
Fourth place goes to Red Bull’s Mark Webber, the Australian once again outqualifying Sebastian Vettel who could only manage sixth – though his best lap was set on the hard compound, giving the German the edge in race strategy.
Between the two Red Bulls is Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn will start 10th however after a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox.
Romain Grosjean, Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez completed the top ten cars.
Pastor Maldonado managed P11, but only missed out on Q3 by a tenth after a very competitive grid in the second part of the session.
The surprise exit of Q1 was Jean-Eric Vergne in the Toro Rosso. The Frenchman could only manage P18 whilst his team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, secured 15th.
All 24 cars were within the 107% time of 1:43.974 and will race on Sunday.
2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying Results: (* = penalty)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Q3 Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:38.102 | 1:37.419 | 1:36.634 |
| 04. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:37.172 | 1:37.375 | 1:36.461 |
| 01. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:37.813 | 1:37.106 | 1:36.219 |
| 02. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:37.517 | 1:36.928 | 1:36.368 |
| 13. | B. Senna | Williams | 1:38.437 | 1:37.841 | |
| 09. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:38.151 | 1:37.379 | 1:37.566 |
| 12. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:38.381 | 1:37.731 | |
| 16. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:38.303 | 1:37.890 | |
| 11. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:37.789 | 1:37.589 | |
| 17. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:38.372 | 1:38.069 | |
| 10. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:37.933 | 1:37.477 | 1:37.698 |
| 20. | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:39.567 | ||
| 05. | K. Raikkonen* | Lotus | 1:37.961 | 1:36.715 | 1:36.461 |
| 03. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:37.517 | 1:37.017 | 1:36.391 |
| 08. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:37.696 | 1:36.996 | 1:36.664 |
| 07. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:38.058 | 1:37.338 | 1:36.658 |
| 18. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:39.077 | ||
| 14. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:38.325 | 1:37.877 | |
| 23. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:42.914 | ||
| 15. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:38.419 | 1:37.883 | |
| 19. | H. Kovalainen* | Caterham | 1:39.306 | ||
| 22. | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:41.250 | ||
| 21. | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:40.903 | ||
| 24. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:43.655 | ||
| Q1 107% Time: | 1:43.974 | ||||
