The Mexican goes into the UBS Chinese Grand Prix looking to build on his podium finish in Malaysia.

And he is confident he has the car to do well in the third grand prix of the season.

"Our car can be competitive and we have to make the most of it," Perez said.

"The high speed corners of the track should suit our car. I especially like turn one - it is a long and pretty difficult bend.

"The long straight will not be the easiest part for us, but, again, we have to maximise our potential."

Teammate Kamui Kobayashi is also hoping for success in Shanghai and said: "I always have a good feeling for this grand prix. I really like the circuit near Shanghai because I enjoy its high speed corners very much, and as well as that they should suit our car.

"The track temperatures might be lower than recently in Malaysia, as I expect them to be more like they were in Melbourne, and this also should be better for us and the tyres, but we have to see how it is once we are there."

Sauber head of track engineering Giampaolo Dall'Ara knows the team will be eager to build on their second place in Malaysia when they take to the track in China.

"I'm confident we can be very competitive in the race," he said.

"The Shanghai International Circuit is a very demanding track. Its peculiarities are several sections with a combination of braking and lateral forces as well as traction and lateral forces. This puts some demands on the car with regards to braking stability and overall balance.

"The straights are also quite relevant for lap times, especially the very long one where you need speed in qualifying as well as for overtaking in the race.

"We had some difficulties with tyre degradation in hot conditions in Malaysia, however, this should be less of an issue in Shanghai, because the tarmac is smooth and overall there are fewer high speed corners with high lateral forces."