The Red Bull driver opted to do just one Q3 run as his initial 1m42.841s lap put him 0.6 seconds clear of his rivals. He had also outpaced the pack by nearly a second in Q2. Vettel's casual approach to the pole shootout almost proved costly, as first Mark Webber, then Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean all hinted at pole pace on their second shots. In the end, they all fell short. Rosberg's Mercedes came closest, 0.091 seconds down on Vettel, who is separated from team-mate Webber by Grosjean's Lotus.
Webber was quicker than his Red Bull team-mate in sector one, causing Vettel to bite his nails in the garage, but by the end of the final sector he had dropped 0.3s and had to settle for fourth. Lewis Hamilton's pole position ambitions never materialised as he ended up over 0.4s off Vettel and more than 0.3s off team-mate Rosberg, who put in a storming performance that kept Vettel on edge until he crossed the line less than a tenth off the pole position time.
Ferraris were down in sixth and seventh, with the departing Felipe Massa ahead of team leader Fernando Alonso again. Massa had earlier only just made it beyond Q1 having encountered traffic at the wrong moment.
Esteban Gutierrez was among the stars of qualifying as he put aside recent Saturday woes to reach Q3 for the first time, having first hauled himself out of Q1 at the last moment.
P. DRIVER TEAM TIME GAP
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:42.841
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG 1:42.932 + 0.091
3. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:43.058 + 0.217
4. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:43.152 + 0.311
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG 1:43.254 + 0.413
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:43.890 + 1.049
7. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:43.938 + 1.097
8. Jenson Button McLaren 1:44.282 + 1.441
9. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:44.439 + 1.598
10. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber No time set
Q2 fastest time: Sebastian Vettel 1:45.376 Gap
11. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:44.555 + 1.650
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:44.588 + 1.683
13. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:44.658 + 1.753
14. Sergio Perez McLaren 1:44.752 + 1.847
15. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:45.185 + 2.280
16. Valtteri Bottas William 1:45.388 + 2.483
Q1 fastest time: Lewis Hamilton 1:44.196 Gap
17. Paul di Resta Force India 1:46.121 + 1.925
18. Pastor Maldonado William 1:46.619 + 2.423
19. Charles Pic Caterham 1:48.111 + 3.915
20. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:48.320 + 4.124
21. Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:48.830 + 4.634
22. Max Chilton Marussia 1:48.930 + 4.734
107% Time: 1:51.489
