Mark Webber took a storming pole in the wet conditions in Malaysia, a gamble on intermediates paying off as the track began to dry.
He will start alongside Nico Rosberg, ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Adrian Sutil.
Qualifying started as a wet affair, with drivers queuing to leave the pits and set a banker time. The few that didn’t set an early lap, later went onto regret their decision.
The weather looked set to improve as the rain stopped, but as the top teams left the garage, the rain started to fall once again. That led to Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso all failing to make it into Q2 after leaving it too late.
Jenson Button managed to set a competitive time in Q1, however, after three laps he spun into the gravel which ended his qualifying session, that left him in 17th position.
Several, if not the majority of drivers encountered some form of spin or off track excursion in the first session.
It was a similar story in Q2. The track was best at the very beginning, with Vettel setting the quickest time.
The rain started to fall in the middle of the session as it did in Q1.
Michael Schumacher sat on the bubble, just managing to make it through to Q3 in the final few seconds.
The final session began with heavy rain. The FIA’s Charlie Whiting took the decision to delay the session with a red flag after three minutes. The session then restarted after 15 minutes.
Vitantonio Liuzzi was the first out, ahead of teammate Adrian Sutil. The first flying lap was set with just three minutes remaining.
The rain continued it’s off, on, off, on pattern, with a new deluge soaking the track when a minute remained.
Mark Webber gambled on intermediate tyres which paid off massively, easily setting the quickest time, over a second faster than anyone else.
Qualifying Times:
| # | Driver | Team | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Q3 Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:51.886 | 1:48.201 | 1:49.327 | 18 |
| 02 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:52.560 | 1:47.417 | 1:50.673 | 22 |
| 03 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:47.632 | 1:46.828 | 1:50.789 | 19 |
| 04 | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:49.479 | 1:47.085 | 1:50.914 | 21 |
| 05 | N. Hulkenberg | Williams | 1:49.664 | 1:47.346 | 1:51.001 | 22 |
| 06 | R. Kubica | Renault | 1:46.283 | 1:46.951 | 1:51.051 | 19 |
| 07 | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:50.301 | 1:48.371 | 1:51.511 | 21 |
| 08 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:52.239 | 1:48.400 | 1:51.717 | 24 |
| 09 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:48.467 | 1:47.792 | 1:51.767 | 21 |
| 10 | V. Liuzzi | Force India | 1:49.922 | 1:48.238 | 1:52.254 | 21 |
| 11 | V. Petrov | Renault | 1:47.952 | 1:48.760 | – | 15 |
| 12 | P. de la Rosa | Sauber | 1:47.153 | 1:48.771 | – | 14 |
| 13 | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1:48.945 | 1:49.207 | – | 15 |
| 14 | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1:48.655 | 1:49.464 | – | 16 |
| 15 | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | 1:52.875 | 1:52.270 | – | 16 |
| 16 | T. Glock | Virgin | 1:52.398 | 1:52.520 | – | 13 |
| 17 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:52.211 | No time | – | 3 |
| 18 | J. Trulli | Lotus | 1:52.884 | – | – | 6 |
| 19 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:53.044 | – | – | 8 |
| 20 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:53.050 | – | – | 8 |
| 21 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:53.283 | – | – | 7 |
| 22 | K. Chandhok | Hispania | 1:56.299 | – | – | 9 |
| 23 | B. Senna | Hispania | 1:57.269 | – | – | 9 |
| 24 | L. di Grassi | Virgin | 1:59.977 | – | – | 4 |
(All timing unofficial)
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