Countdown to
000d 00h 00m 00s2012 Chinese Grand Prix
| P | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap | % | Avg Speed | Laps | |
| 1 | 8 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:35.121 | 100.0 | 206.301 | 11 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:35.626 | 0.505 | 100.5 | 205.212 | 14 | |
| 3 | 7 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:35.691 | 0.570 | 100.6 | 205.073 | 13 | |
| 4 | 14 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:35.784 | 0.663 | 100.7 | 204.873 | 13 | |
| 5 | 9 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:35.898 | 0.777 | 100.8 | 204.630 | 15 | |
| 6 | 3 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:36.191 | 1.070 | 101.1 | 204.007 | 16 | |
| 7 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1:36.290 | 1.169 | 101.2 | 203.797 | 14 | |
| 8 | 15 | Sergio Pérez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:36.524 | 1.403 | 101.5 | 203.303 | 17 | |
| 9 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:36.622 | 1.501 | 101.6 | 203.097 | 17 | |
| 10 | 10 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | No Time | 15 | ||||
| 11 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1:36.031 | 0.910 | 101.0 | 204.347 | 11 | |
| 12 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:36.255 | 1.134 | 101.2 | 203.871 | 14 | |
| 13 | 18 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:36.283 | 1.162 | 101.2 | 203.812 | 14 | |
| 14 | 19 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 1:36.289 | 1.168 | 101.2 | 203.799 | 14 | |
| 15 | 11 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:36.317 | 1.196 | 101.3 | 203.740 | 14 | |
| 16 | 12 | Nico Hülkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:36.745 | 1.624 | 101.7 | 202.838 | 14 | |
| 17 | 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:36.956 | 1.835 | 101.9 | 202.397 | 14 | |
| 18 | 17 | Jean-Éric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:37.714 | 2.593 | 102.7 | 200.827 | 8 | |
| 19 | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1:38.463 | 3.342 | 103.5 | 199.299 | 9 | |
| 20 | 21 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1:38.677 | 3.556 | 103.7 | 198.867 | 7 | |
| 21 | 24 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:39.282 | 4.161 | 104.4 | 197.655 | 10 | |
| 22 | 25 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:39.717 | 4.596 | 104.8 | 196.793 | 10 | |
| 23 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1:40.411 | 5.290 | 105.6 | 195.433 | 7 | |
| 24 | 23 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1:41.000 | 5.879 | 106.2 | 194.293 | 10 |