Perez urges Sauber to keep pushing after second place in Malaysian GP

Perez challenged Fernando Alonso for victory at Sepang last month, and hopes are high that the Swiss-based outfit can repeat that giant-killing performance at other races.

But with Sauber well aware that its qualifying form and straight-line speed performance is not among the best, Perez has urged the team to push even harder to deliver more in the future.

"We all have to keep our heads down and work hard," explained the Mexican. "Our car can be competitive and we have to make the most of it. Last year initially I had a good race in Shanghai, but then I had contact with some other cars towards the end of the Grand Prix and was penalised.

"The high speed corners of the track should suit our car. I especially like turn one - it is a long and pretty difficult bend. The long straight will not be the easiest part for us, but, again, we have to maximise our potential."

Sauber's head of track engineering Giampaolo Dall'Ara hopes that the cooler conditions at China, compared to Malaysia, should help the team too.

"We had some difficulties with tyre degradation in hot conditions in Malaysia, however, this should be less of an issue in Shanghai, because the tarmac is smooth and overall there are fewer high speed corners with high lateral forces," he said.

"What can be a challenge is the weather. In April there is always quite a high possibility of rain, which is not as dramatic as in Malaysia, but still is something we have to bear in mind when planning the weekend.

"The car will have some minor modifications compared to the one we ran in Malaysia. I'm confident we can be very competitive in the race."