Albers hit with engine penalty again

"My luck seems to be at a low point right now: another race, another engine change, another back-of-the-grid start," said Albers, who suffered the same problem in Germany.

"But the only thing you can do in situations like this is to keep fighting and keep pushing. I see it as a test of character and, believe me, I will use it as motivation to show what I'm made of.

"I have nothing to lose now, so it will really be a 'maximum attack' charge from me on Sunday."

Midland teammate Tiago Monteiro lamented his lack of running during practice after completing just eight timed laps during the day.

The Portuguese driver did not enjoy a very good session despite finishing in a promising 15th position with his Toyota-powered car. Monteiro admitted the team were struggling to choose the right tyre for the race.

"We're having some problems with our tyre choice right now, because apart from Markus' car, we weren't able to get much data today," said Monteiro. "Personally, I wasn't able to get much running in - four timed laps in the morning, four in the afternoon - so it wasn't a very productive day for me, to be fair.

"Time-wise, we didn't do too badly, but we don't know what the other teams are doing or what kinds of problems they're having. We're going to have to sit down for a nice long meeting with the engineers, analyse all the problems, and work together with Bridgestone to find a good solution."