Brazilian GP: Sergio Perez says aggression is Sauber's only hope

Sauber is currently sixth in the standings and trails Mercedes by 12 points.

This means that the Swiss team must get at least one car into the top six even if Mercedes fails to score.

The Mexican starts the race 12th, with team-mate Kamui Kobayashi in 14th after Williams driver Pastor Maldonado was hit with a 10-place grid penalty.

"We've got to risk quite a lot," Perez told AUTOSPORT when asked if the team planned to be aggressive.

"With the potential of the car we have, I don't expect to be, in normal conditions, better than ninth or 10th.

"So we're going to risk everything to beat Mercedes and get good points for the team."

Perez is hopeful that rain will hit the race, which he believes will boost Sauber's chances of a strong result.

The Mexican almost won the rain-hit Malaysian Grand Prix in March and he did not rule out a similar performance in Brazil.

"You never know," he said. "It's important to make the most out of the opportunity.

"We've been struggling for pace but I'm optimistic that if it rains, we can be quite competitive.

"We have nothing to lose and everything to win from Mercedes, so we're going for it and we will try to score points in a big way."