Sebastien Buemi felt that 10th place on the Yas Marina grid was a slight disappointment given his pace earlier in the weekend - but reckons other cars ahead could be running lighter.
The Toro Rosso driver was regularly among the frontrunners throughout free practice and then seventh in Q2.
But with more fuel on board for Q3, he fell back to the fifth row - although that still marked his third straight Q3 appearance.
“I was hoping for a little bit better after finishing seventh in Q2, but I am happy with our fuel load which should allow us to be flexible in terms of race strategy," said Buemi.
"The car feels very competitive, as indeed it has been for the past few races and scoring points is a realistic target for tomorrow."
His team-mate Jaime Alguersuari is only 15th on the grid, but the team's chief engineer Laurent Mekies said Toro Rosso should take the blame for the Spaniard's relatively low position as a hydraulic problem sidelined Alguersuari for all of final practice.
"We did not help Jaime much today, as he did not take part in FP3 because of a problem on the car and then in the afternoon, we had a few glitches on his car," Mekies explained.
"Therefore, overall, I think he did the best he could today."
Alguersuari said he was very happy to get as high as he had given the circumstances.
“Taking into account that I was unable to do any laps this morning, because of a problem with the car, I think my performance in qualifying was quite positive, especially as I was not completely happy with the aerodynamic balance of the car," he said.
"I was not expecting to make it to Q2 after not running in FP3 on a track that is new to everyone.
"Looking back at my season, I think that getting into Q2 again shows I am making progress, but I still have a lot to learn."