Di Resta elated with top-ten effort

The Force India driver continued to show strong form in his debut season, finishing as eighth fastest and outqualifying team-mate Adrian Sutil for the third time in a row.

The Scot is now eyeing his third consecutive points finish.

"I could not have wished for more today and it's nice to get into Q3," said di Resta. "After missing the whole of FP2 yesterday we knew that it was going to be difficult this morning, but we've got a small upgrade here and it certainly improved the performance today.

"Luckily I did my quickest lap in the second running in Q1, as I just struggled a little bit with balance in the others. Our race pace seems to be not too bad, so fingers crossed we can pick up some points again tomorrow as we have in the previous two grands prix."

Sutil was also happy with his day, despite missing out on the top ten, the German qualifying in 11th.

"It was a good qualifying and I am looking forward to the race tomorrow," he said. "This weekend has so far been much better than the last ones, with no real problems so it looks good for us.

"It was a little bit difficult at the end of the session when the red flag came out and I missed out on a final flying lap, but overall I am very happy and our car performance is improving well."