The Red Bull racer, who would do his chances of winning the World title the world of good by winnning the showdown come Sunday afternoon, crossed the line with a 1:39.394.And although Lewis Hamilton came close to pipping Vettel, he ultimately fell 0.031s short.
Fernando Alonso will line up in third place, 0.398s off the pace, and has the advantage of having Jenson Button as a buffer between himself and his main rival for the title, Mark Webber.
A scruffy qualifying in which Red Bull left it rather late saw Webber finish down in fifth place.
Meanwhile, Robert Kubica lost his record of being the only non-Red Bull driver to make it through to the final qualifying segment in all this season's races. He dropped out in Q2, putting his car into 11th place.
Times:
01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m39.394
02. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.425
03. Alonso Ferrari 1m39.792
04. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.823
05. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m39.925
06. Massa Ferrari 1m40.202
07. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m40.203
08. Schumacher Mercedes 1m40.516
09. Rosberg Mercedes 1m40.589
10. Petrov Renault 1m40.901
11. Kubica Renault 1m40.780
12. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.783
13. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1m40.914
14. Heidfeld Sauber-Ferrari 1m41.113
15. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1m41.418
16. Liuzzi Force India-Ferrari 1m41.642
17. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.738
18. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.824
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m43.516
20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m43.712
21. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m44.095
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m44.510
23. Senna Hispania-Cosworth 1m45.085
24. Klien Hispania-Cosworth 1m45.296
Source: Planet-F1
