Sergio Perez qualifies 9th for Japanese Grand Prix

Suzuka: Sahara Force India's Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg will start the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix from ninth and 14th on the grid.

Perez qualified for Q3 but failed to set a time in the final session with Daniil Kvyat's accident bringing a premature end to qualifying.

Hulkenberg set the 11th fastest time but will start 14th owing to a three-place grid penalty he incurred in the last race.

"Starting from ninth place is not too bad all things considered and we can race well from there. It's a shame I couldn't complete my lap in Q3, but the main thing is that Daniil is okay. Perhaps if I had the opportunity to set a time I could have been ahead of Romain (Grosjean), but hopefully I can get ahead of him at the start tomorrow because I think Lotus will be our main competition," said Perez.

"It's going to be a tough race because there are some quick cars ahead of us, but you never know what can happen here and we still need to see what happens with the weather. Tyre management is always important in this race and with the wet Friday there are still some question marks," added the Mexican.

Hulkenberg said: "It's disappointing to miss out on Q3 by such a small margin, but I can't complain too much about our performance today. I think my qualifying lap was pretty good and I felt I was pushing the car to its limit: unfortunately that wasn't enough, but I know it was our best effort."