Paul di Resta says his decision not to run in Q3 will give him an "optimum strategy" to score points in tomorrow's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Scot decided against going out in the final qualifying segment in order to save tires for the race. He will start his Force India from 10th position.
"Getting two cars in the top ten was the objective today and that's what we achieved," said di Resta. "We made some good progress this morning perfecting the setup and I was happy with the car in qualifying. Q1 and Q2 went well and we got the job done by getting in the top 10.
"Our approach to Q3 was to give us the optimum strategy for tomorrow. We are definitely hoping for points because our focus is to maintain our sixth place in the championship.
"I'm really looking forward to this race because the place looks spectacular at night. It's also nice to drive in twilight conditions when it's a bit cooler."
Teammate Adrian Sutil qualified right in front, the German also waiting in the garage to see if rival Mercedes would run in Q3. In the end, Sutil completed one run but said it was not ideal.
"I'm happy with ninth place today and it was a good session for me," Sutil said. "In Q3 we waited a bit longer than planned because we wanted to wait and see what Mercedes did.
"In the end they decided to go out so I also went out and I did a timed lap. The lap was a little bit compromised because I didn't get the tires fully up to temperature, so maybe I could have been a bit higher up. Still, I don't think we can complain too much because P9 is a fair reflection of our pace at the moment."