Midland duo disappointed with showing

The Midland driver was hit by technical problems which slowed him down in the first qualifying session, meaning he was unable to make the first cut.

The Dutchman will start tomorrow's race from 20th position.

"I'm extremely disappointed with our qualifying result today, because I know we could have been so much quicker," said Albers. "It's always frustrating to encounter technical problems, but unfortunately, that's the way it goes sometimes.

"Now, we have to remain focused on what's important, and that's the race tomorrow. Hopefully, we can fix whatever the problem is and perform at the level we're capable of."

His teammate Tiago Monteiro endured a similarly disappointed qualifying, finishing in 19th position.

"It hasn't been an easy weekend so far, that's for sure," said Monteiro. "But with the exception of this qualifying session, we had been improving every time we were out on track, closing the gap to the others and trying to improve the car.

"It's somewhat disappointing, because we solved the tyre issues we had yesterday and we were looking forward to a breakthrough today.

"Still, I remain confident that if we can make a good start tomorrow, we should have a strong race. The race team has done a great job all weekend and I hope Christijan and I can deliver the results they deserve."