Sauber says stronger qualifying form key in Abu Dhabi

The outfit is locked in a three-way battle for positions in the standings - being tied on points with Scuderia Toro Rosso but with Force India just 10 points clear.

Having slipped back in form over recent races, however, the team is eager to turn its situation around - something technical director James Key believes will be helped by a different set-up approach to the weekend.

"The car will be the same specification we had in India," said Key. "We have, however, several new approaches to some of the mechanical set-up, coming off the back of a difficult qualifying in India, where we just couldn't get the tyres to work.

"We think Abu Dhabi will be better for this, but nevertheless we looked into this in detail and we will go with some fresh ideas to make sure we've got everything covered if tyres are the problem.

"In the race in India we got back to where we should be competition wise, and we clearly also need to be at that level in qualifying in Abu Dhabi."