Mark Webber took his first pole position of the 2012 season to beat his team-mate Sebastian Vettel by just under a tenth to give Red Bull a front-row lockout.
That result handed Renault engines it’s 200th pole.
Lewis Hamilton slotted into third for McLaren whilst Jenson Button could only manage a lowly 11th.
Championship leader Fernando Alonso secured fourth, a position he will be keen to improve on during the race in a bid to continue leading the title race when we leave Korea.
Kimi Raikkonen outqualified his team-mate in the updated Lotus which now features Coanda exhausts, unlike Romain Grosjean’s car which has the previous spec.
Mercedes completed the top ten with Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher in 9th and 10th respectively.
HRT’s Narain Karthikeyan suffered a scary moment in the braking zone on the longest straight during Q1, spinning as he hit the brakes, narrowly avoiding contact with a Force India.
Qualifying Results for the 2012 Korean GP:
| # | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:38.208 | 1:37.767 | 1:37.316 |
| 01 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:38.397 | 1:37.987 | 1:37.242 |
| 11 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:38.615 | 1:38.441 | |
| 13 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:38.719 | 1:38.594 | |
| 07 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:38.863 | 1:38.275 | 1:37.934 |
| 12 | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:38.630 | 1:38.460 | |
| 04 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:39.144 | 1:37.987 | 1:37.534 |
| 05 | K. Räikkönen | Lotus | 1:38.887 | 1:38.227 | 1:37.625 |
| 03 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:39.180 | 1:38.000 | 1:37.469 |
| 08 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:38.981 | 1:38.428 | 1:38.266 |
| 06 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:38.937 | 1:38.253 | 1:37.884 |
| 14 | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:38.942 | 1:38.643 | |
| 10 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:38.808 | 1:38.436 | 1:38.513 |
| 15 | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:39.024 | 1:38.725 | |
| 09 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:38.999 | 1:38.417 | 1:38.361 |
| 16 | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:38.784 | 1:39.084 | |
| 17 | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:38.744 | 1:39.340 | |
| 18 | B. Senna | Williams | 1:39.443 | ||
| 20 | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:40.333 | ||
| 22 | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:41.371 | ||
| 23 | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:42.881 | ||
| 21 | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:41.317 | ||
| 19 | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:40.207 | ||
| 24 | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | |||
| Q1 107% Time: | 1:45.082 | ||||
