Perez delighted with qualifying effort after just missing out on top ten

The Sauber driver qualified in a strong 11th position, and said he was hoping to be able to do even better but he could not get his tyres to work properly at the end of Q2 as the Swiss squad continued with its issues to warm up the Pirelli rubber.

Perez, however, is still hopeful of a good race thanks to what he labelled as an aggressive strategy.

"I'm very happy with 11th in qualifying," said Perez. "Everybody in the team did a good job. I did my fastest laptime in Q2 with a set of soft tyres I had used before in Q1. Of course I was hoping to improve in Q2 when I got the fresh tyres, but it was impossible for me to get them to work.

"We are in a challenging situation regarding the battle for positions in the Constructors' Championship, but I hope for a good race with an aggressive strategy tomorrow. Everything can happen. It will be my first twilight race, but I have seen yesterday and today that the tinted tear off visors work quite well."

Team-mate Kamui Kobayashi qualified down in 16th after he also struggled to get his new tyres up to the right temperature for his final run in Q2.

"I did what was eventually my fastest lap time in Q2 on the set of soft tyres I had used before in Q1," he said. "This lap wasn't perfect, but I put my hopes on the set of new tyres.

"Then we struggled a lot to get the fresh ones up to temperature and that's why I couldn't improve. The difference in grip between the used set and the new one was really big. Nevertheless I have a good feeling for the race here."