Abu Dhabi GP: Maldonado warns he will attack on Sunday

As Williams lived up to Maldonado's promise of a return to form at Yas Marina, the Venezuelan delivered his strongest qualifying performance since Singapore to grab fourth on the grid.

World championship leader Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull is one place ahead of Maldonado in third, with Vettel's pursuer Fernando Alonso's Ferrari three places back in seventh.

Asked how he would approach starting the race in the thick of a tense title battle, Maldonado replied: "We need to look at ourselves. Points would be very important for us so I will push at the maximum and then we'll see.

"I think we have very strong pace and are very competitive."

He added that he was thrilled to see Williams back on the pace after its disappointing recent run.

"I think we showed all through the weekend that we were competitive and very consistent in different conditions," Maldonado said.

"I did my best in qualifying. The car was right there [on the pace] so I'm very happy for the team and very happy for myself as well.

"We're back to being strong again."