Sutil expected to make it into Q3

The Force India driver will start from 11th position after having missed the cut to go into Q3, the German struggling with the performance of his tyres.

After having posted the fourth quickest time in the opening qualifying segment, Sutil admitted he expected a better result.

"It's not a bad position, but I expected much more after such a good lap in Q1," Sutil told AUTOSPORT. "From P4 I thought that I would be in Q3. But then with the next set of tyres, the grip was not there and I was four tenths slower while the others were all improving their times by two or three tenths.

"So there was a serious problem with our tyre performance today. It was very similar to Valencia - not so bad because we were still able to be P11 - but in my opinion this car is better than P11."

Sutil said he is expecting a tough race due to the difficulties to overtake around Silverstone.

"We have to check what is the best thing to do now. It's difficult to pass here so you have to do an aggressive strategy somehow to make a difference.

"It will be a difficult race so it's whether you go on softs and try to gain a few positions in the pits by pitting earlier or you choose a completely different strategy."

He conceded emulating the strategy chosen by Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi in Valencia, where the Japanese driver stayed out until the end of the race before changing tyres, was also a possibility.

"After that, a lot of teams will be thinking about it. He was the first one that tried it and it really worked for him well.

"He started 18th and finished seventh so it is possible and could be a good way here. But the tyre degradation is different in Valencia, and there is a little bit more degradation here so you have to do some calculations."