Sergio Perez expecting tough weekend at the European Grand Prix

The Mexican, who finished third in the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago, believes that while Sauber will be competitive, he doesn't have a strong chance of becoming the season's eighth winner in Valencia.

"It will be a difficult weekend for us in terms of this track," said Perez. "It asks a lot of the rear axle because of the braking and lateral [load] combination.

"It's a tough circuit and I expect a tough weekend for us. But if we have everything in place, we can be competitive.

"If we can get sorted on Friday and have a good Saturday and the race, who knows? But I think it will be a tough weekend for us."

Despite being cautious ahead of this weekend's race, Perez remains optimistic that he can take his maiden grand prix victory this year.

He already has two podiums to his name in 2012, including a near-victory in Malaysia, and is confident that Sauber could be a contender on a high-speed track.

"There is definitely the chance that we can win a race this season," he said. "We already have a second and a third place, so the next target has to be to win a race and hopefully we will be able to make it.

"The team is close and working very hard at the factory. It's nice to see how hard they are pushing. There will be a track that will suit us very well and, if we get it right, we can win.

"I think tracks like Silverstone, for example, with high-speed corners could potentially be good."

Perez added that he could have been in contention to win in both Spain and Canada, where a first lap incident with Romain Grosjean and a qualifying crash respectively put him out of contention.

"Barcelona was a good chance," he said. "Monaco was a good chance, but then we had the problem with the steering and went into the wall.

"We've been very unlucky this season and hopefully we can turn around our luck and put together a perfect weekend."