Lewis Hamilton will start from pole position in Abu Dhabi on Sunday following a dominant performance on Saturday, leading McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh to describe the 27-year-old as “on fire,” after he was quickest in all three qualifying sessions.
Mark Webber surprised to put his Red Bull on the front-row with a lap three-tenths slower than Hamilton.
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel starts third, though stopped his car on circuit as the final session came to an end prompting fears there may be an issue with his RB8.
An on form Pastor Maldonado put his Williams fourth, 11 places ahead of team-mate Bruno Senna.
Fernando Alonso’s dreams of securing a third title look on the edge after the Spaniard could only manage seventh behind Kimi Raikkonen and Jenso Button in fifth and sixth.
Romain Grosjean starts tenth though is under investigation for an unsafe pit release.
Sergio Perez, who qualified 12th, could see his grid position increase after the stewards confirmed they were investigating him too, for blocking Bruno Senna during Q1.
Qualifying Results for the 2012 Abu Dhabi GP:
| # | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:42.160 | 1:41.511 | 1:41.073 |
| 02 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:41.933 | 1:41.277 | 1:40.978 |
| 06 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:42.342 | 1:41.873 | 1:41.290 |
| 16 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:43.582 | 1:42.606 | |
| 10 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:42.046 | 1:41.620 | 1:41.778 |
| 12 | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:42.624 | 1:42.084 | |
| 07 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:41.939 | 1:41.514 | 1:41.582 |
| 05 | K. Räikkönen | Lotus | 1:42.222 | 1:41.532 | 1:41.260 |
| 01 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:41.497 | 1:40.901 | 1:40.630 |
| 11 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:42.579 | 1:42.019 | |
| 09 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:41.974 | 1:41.846 | 1:41.723 |
| 13 | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:42.572 | 1:42.218 | |
| 14 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:42.735 | 1:42.289 | |
| 04 | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:41.981 | 1:41.907 | 1:41.226 |
| 08 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:41.926 | 1:41.698 | 1:41.603 |
| 17 | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:43.280 | 1:42.765 | |
| 18 | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:44.058 | ||
| 15 | B. Senna | Williams | 1:43.298 | 1:42.330 | |
| 19 | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:44.956 | ||
| 22 | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:45.426 | ||
| 23 | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:45.766 | ||
| 20 | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:45.089 | ||
| 21 | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:45.151 | ||
| 24 | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:46.382 | ||
| Q1 107% Time: | 1:48.601 | ||||
