De la Rosa hails Sauber's progress

"I am happy with my performance but, more importantly, I am very proud of the team," said de la Rosa after qualifying in ninth position, the second time in three races the Spaniard has reached Q3.

"The car was really good. My position proves how much progress the guys from Hinwil have made with the car, especially to make it quicker in slow corners.

"They just kept their heads down and worked hard, and they have turned it around. Tomorrow I will try and stay out of trouble at the start and during the first lap, and then I will certainly fight for points."

De la Rosa was the only Sauber driver to make it into the top ten, after team-mate Kamui Kobayashi was knocked out in Q1.

The Japanese struggled with the handling of his car and finished down in 18th position.

"I am very disappointed," he said. "We have done a lot of set-up changes since we arrived here, but still I am not happy. To me the car feels strange, different from what I'm used to, and I don't have any grip.

"So the situation was quite difficult for me anyway, and then the team was over-optimistic sending me out on the harder tyres for my second run in Q1.

"I believe on the softer compound I would have managed to get at least to Q2."