Sergio Perez says Sauber must improve its qualifying form

Sauber enjoyed a strong first half of the season which saw the Swiss squad consolidate in sixth place in the standings.

The team, however, has scored just six points in the last seven races and has dropped down seventh, tied on points with the charging Toro Rosso.

Perez reckons Sauber's qualifying pace is the main issue for the team at the moment.

"I think the problem is mainly the pace," said Perez. "We didn't have enough pace in the last races and we struggled with type warm-up, in qualifying especially. Mainly the pace in qualifying is not good enough. This is our main problem.

"In the race we get better but then it's difficult to recover from the position we are in. Like in India it was okay to get one point but we had a bad qualifying. We struggled all weekend on low fuel. We have to improve.

"Who knows where we will end up. We can only do our best and see what happens."

The Mexican is confident, however, that the higher temperatures in Abu Dhabi will help his team enjoy a stronger weekend.

"I think the track temperature is going to be reasonably higher and also the track has more grip than the previous races. I'm confident and I will give my best for sure."