Qualifying got underway in ambient temperatures of 27 degrees with a strong wind. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas went fastest in Q1 on the medium compound tyres, which all the drivers who completed a second run used by the end of the session. The Lotus drivers both did only one run while all the other teams completed two runs. Both Red Bull drivers used just one set of hard tyres during Q1 and this enabled them to save their allocation of medium tyres for the rest of qualifying and the race.
All the drivers who went through to Q2 used the medium tyres from the beginning of the session, with Vettel leading his team mate Mark Webber by the end of the session as track temperatures fell slightly. The final top 10 again used the medium tyre only during Q3. Vettel set pole position on his second run, in the closing seconds of the session – having made the difference over his team mate in the last sector of the lap.
P. DRIVER TEAM TIME GAP
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:36.338
2. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:36.441 + 0.103
3. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:37.155 + 0.817
4. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:37.296 + 0.958
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG 1:37.345 + 1.007
6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:37.376 + 1.038
7. Sergio Perez McLaren 1:37.452 + 1.114
8. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus 1:37.715 + 1.377
9. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:37.836 + 1.498
10. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:38.034 + 1.696
Q2 fastest time: Sebastian Vettel 1:40.473 Gap
11. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:38.131 + 1.066
12. Paul di Resta Force India 1:38.139 + 1.074
13. Jenson Button McLaren 1:38.217 + 1.152
14. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG 1:38.364 + 1.299
15. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:38.592 + 1.527
16. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:38.696 + 1.631
Q1 fastest time: Valtteri Bottas 1:40.693 Gap
17. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:39.250 + 1.429
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:39.351 + 1.530
19. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:40.491 + 2.670
20. Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:40.528 + 2.707
21. Charles Pic Caterham 1:40.596 + 2.775
22. Max Chilton Marussia 1:41.401 + 3.580
107% Time: 1:44.668
