European GP: Maldonado expects to fight for win

Qualifying for the 2012 European Grand Prix would see Williams F1 driver Pastor Maldonado finish in an excellent third. Despite having used a large numbers of his available sets of tyres in qualifying Pastor is confident that he can still fight for a win in Sunday's race.

Pastor, in the post qualifying interview spoke of the difficulties that the Williams team and he have had in using the option tyres.

Pastor said: "The car has been quite quick since yesterday, [but] we were struggling a bit with the option tyres. We were a bit confused because I didn't feel the same feeling with the prime tyres."

"But then we have been working so hard, trying to understand what has been happening this morning, [and we were] still struggling, especially with the option tyres.

"For qualifying we understood them a little bit more and here we are. I think we did a pretty good job.

"Williams is getting better and better every time so I am pretty happy for the team and pretty happy for my country and it's going to be a great opportunity again to get on the podium and fight for a good result."

As for the race Pastor felt that strategy would play a major role given that it was expected to be hotter on Sunday than it was during qualifying.

Pastor added: "I think for the long run, for us the prime tyres were a bit better," he said. "We had more range and we were even quicker after a couple of laps, so we have tyres enough to race and be very competitive, so I don't worry about that.

"Looking forward to tomorrow, what happens with the strategy is very important and will be essential for tomorrow. These conditions are very hot and difficult for everybody so I am looking forward to it. Let's see."