Buemi hopes set-up gamble pays off

The Swiss driver, who missed most of Friday's running after a crash due to a problem with his car's uprights, qualified in 13th position, just behind team-mate Jaime Alguersuari.

"I had no problem with getting back in the car after what happened yesterday, although of course the lack of track time affected me," said Buemi. "In any case the team did a good job to rebuild the car so that I could run trouble free today.

"To be honest, I was expecting to get a better grid position, but it's understandable when you don't drive on Friday. As for the race, we have gone for a compromise setting that should also work if the predicted rain arrives tomorrow.

"P13 is not too far away from the points, so let's wait and see what we can do."

Technical director Giorgio Ascanelli added: "I don't like having all our eggs in one basket, so we split them, with one car anticipating rain tomorrow and one with a downforce level more suited for the dry. Guess which one was fastest today. Tomorrow we will see what happens."

Alguersuari was pleased with his day's work after equalling his best qualifying performance in F1.

"We are getting closer to Q3 and I think we did a good job so far this weekend, especially as it's my first time at this track," he said. "I expect we can have a good race tomorrow, as the car works well over a distance, running consistently and we seem to have got it to work better than in Malaysia.

"We will have to wait and see what the weather brings, but I think I have a realistic chance of scoring points tomorrow, whether it is wet or dry, so I would prefer it if it does not rain."