Qualifying for the 2017 Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix, the 15th round of the season, took place at Sepang International Circuit, with drivers contesting Q1, Q2 and Q3 for their grid positions.
Lewis Hamilton took pole with a 1:30.076. Kimi Räikkönen was second on 1:30.121, a gap of 0.045 seconds. Max Verstappen was third; the complete times for the top three in Q3 are shown in the classification below.
The top ten in qualifying were Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Räikkönen, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Stoffel Vandoorne, Nico Hülkenberg, Sergio Pérez and Fernando Alonso, in that order.
Felipe Massa, Jolyon Palmer, Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly filled positions 11 to 15, respectively.
The remaining classified drivers were Romain Grosjean in 16th, Kevin Magnussen in 17th, Pascal Wehrlein in 18th and Marcus Ericsson in 19th. Sebastian Vettel was not given an official qualifying position.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:31.605 | 1:30.977 | 1:30.076 | 18 |
| 2 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:32.259 | 1:30.926 | 1:30.121 | 14 |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:31.920 | 1:30.931 | 1:30.541 | 12 |
| 4 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:32.416 | 1:31.061 | 1:30.595 | 16 |
| 5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:32.254 | 1:30.803 | 1:30.758 | 17 |
| 6 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1:32.527 | 1:31.651 | 1:31.478 | 17 |
| 7 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1:32.838 | 1:31.848 | 1:31.582 | 18 |
| 8 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:32.586 | 1:31.778 | 1:31.607 | 17 |
| 9 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | 1:32.768 | 1:31.484 | 1:31.658 | 18 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:33.049 | 1:32.010 | 1:31.704 | 17 |
| 11 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:32.267 | 1:32.034 | — | 12 |
| 12 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:32.576 | 1:32.100 | — | 14 |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1:33.000 | 1:32.307 | — | 14 |
| 14 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:32.650 | 1:32.402 | — | 14 |
| 15 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1:32.547 | 1:32.558 | — | 14 |
| 16 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:33.308 | — | — | 8 |
| 17 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:33.434 | — | — | 6 |
| 18 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 1:33.483 | — | — | 9 |
| 19 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:33.970 | — | — | 9 |
| NC | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | DNF | — | — | 2 |
