Title contenders Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher were pushed out of the top 10.
Ferrari boss Jean Todt dropped a hint on Sunday that he expects Kimi Raikkonen to be heading for his Formula One team next season.
India's Narain Karthikeyan will start 19th on the grid.
Fernando Alonso will start his home Spanish Grand Prix as Formula One championship leader for the third year in a row this weekend but with more of a fight on his hands than ever.
Double world champion Fernando Alonso expects to have more overtaking opportunities at his home Spanish Grand Prix next week as a result of changes to the Circuit de Catalunya.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton seized his first win for Mercedes in a sweltering Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday while Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel moved 38 points clear in the Formula One championship despite finishing third.
Force India regained fifth position in the team standings with a double points finish at the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Briton is the first to finish on the podium in his debut race since Jacques Villeneuve finished second in Melbourne 11 years ago.
The 27-year-old became the first driver to win on his Ferrari debut since Briton Nigel Mansell in Brazil in 1989.
The Scot believes his former McLaren team mate Kimi Raikkonen could yet emerge as Formula One champion this season.\n
The Finn made a triumphant start to his Ferrari career with a pole-to-flag victory in the season-opening Formula One race.
The Finn fought back from sixth quickest in Friday's first practice session to edge out Schumacher for the fastest time overall.
The time sheet for Sunday's Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix.
Alonso, who will make his McLaren debut after winning the Formula One championship for the past two years with Renault, had to make do with second place on the starting grid.
The 'Iceman' seemed as unflappable as ever at the prospect of stepping into the shoes of Michael Schumacher.
"The reality check is a race weekend so there is nowhere to hide from that," said the Scot.
Toyota's Ralf Schumacher considers himself one of the top three drivers in Formula One.
The Brazilian now looks much more like the real deal, no longer simply plugging a hole at Ferrari until someone better comes along.
Felipe Massa is no longer simply plugging a hole at Ferrari until someone better comes along.
A suspected electrical problem halted his McLaren on the first day of practice for the new Formula One season in Bahrain.
The McLaren driver has only one piece of advice for Formula One's rookie drivers: 'Let us past.'
The Finn drove Ferrari's 2007 car for the first time in Valencia on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old Finn had his first Formula One test for the Italian glamour team at a damp Vallelunga circuit on Tuesday.
Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg chalked up his seventh win in a row at the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday with team mate Lewis Hamilton fighting back from 10th on the grid to seal a Mercedes one-two finish.
The FIA confirmed it had written to teams using Michelin tyres outlining new rules for measuring tread width at the September 14 Italian Grand Prix.
The 21-year-old Briton could be drafted in for next week's season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.