Photo: Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service
Fabio Leimer was again around a second clear of the rest of the GP2 Series as he continued his startling form in Bahrain to claim a dominant pole position.
The Racing Engineering driver held top spot by three tenths of a second halfway through the qualifying session ahead of Marcus Ericsson, but the Swiss driver was able to replicate the comfortable margin he enjoyed in free practice to finish up 0.993s ahead as he looks to repeat his feature race win from round one at Sepang.
Second place for fellow fourth-year driver Ericsson was a return to expected form. The DAMS man could only manage 13th on the grid in Malaysia, collided on the first lap of the feature race and ended the weekend with no points.
Felipe Nasr claimed third place on the grid for Carlin, matching his qualifying result from 12 months ago. Points leader Stefano Coletti was fourth, with Tom Dillmann edging out the second Monegasque driver Stephane Richelmi for P5.
Alexander Rossi again looked fast to take seventh spot on the grid for his first proper GP2 Series race with Caterham. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs did well to end up eighth for MP Motorsport ahead of Russian Time?s Sam Bird and debutant Robin Frijns, who only drove Hilmer?s car for the first time in practice.
James Calado could only manage 11th for ART, compounding the misery of the ten-place grid penalty he collected in Malaysia which will see him have to fight his way through from the 11th row of the grid.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Fabio Leimer | Racing Engineering | 1:39.427 | 10 | |
| 2 | Marcus Ericsson | DAMS | 1:40.420 | 0.993 | 10 |
| 3 | Felipe Nasr | Carlin | 1:40.520 | 1.093 | 11 |
| 4 | Stefano Coletti | Rapax | 1:40.585 | 1.158 | 9 |
| 5 | Tom Dillmann | Russian Time | 1:40.689 | 1.262 | 11 |
| 6 | Stephane Richelmi | DAMS | 1:40.704 | 1.277 | 10 |
| 7 | Alexander Rossi | Caterham Racing | 1:40.756 | 1.329 | 11 |
| 8 | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | MP Motorsport | 1:40.769 | 1.342 | 11 |
| 9 | Sam Bird | Russian Time | 1:40.842 | 1.415 | 10 |
| 10 | Robin Frijns | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:40.865 | 1.438 | 12 |
| 11 | James Calado* | ART Grand Prix | 1:40.878 | 1.451 | 10 |
| 12 | Simon Trummer | Rapax | 1:40.892 | 1.465 | 9 |
| 13 | Jolyon Palmer | Carlin | 1:41.033 | 1.606 | 10 |
| 14 | Johnny Cecotto | Arden International | 1:41.043 | 1.616 | 9 |
| 15 | Daniel Abt | ART Grand Prix | 1:41.070 | 1.643 | 11 |
| 16 | Sergio Canamasas | Caterham Racing | 1:41.229 | 1.802 | 11 |
| 17 | Kevin Giovesi | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:41.236 | 1.809 | 9 |
| 18 | Mitch Evans | Arden International | 1:41.237 | 1.810 | 7 |
| 19 | Kevin Ceccon | Trident Racing | 1:41.243 | 1.816 | 11 |
| 20 | Julian Leal | Racing Engineering | 1:41.504 | 2.077 | 12 |
| 21 | Rene Binder | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:41.553 | 2.126 | 10 |
| 22 | Jake Rosenzweig | Barwa Addax Team | 1:41.687 | 2.260 | 10 |
| 23 | Nathanael Berthon | Trident Racing | 1:41.730 | 2.303 | 9 |
| 24 | Pal Varhaug | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:41.980 | 2.553 | 11 |
| 25 | Rio Haryanto | Barwa Addax Team | 1:41.981 | 2.554 | 10 |
| 26 | Daniel De Jong | MP Motorsport | 1:42.284 | 2.857 | 10 |
* Ten-place grid penalty