Overnight set-up changes worked, says Hulkenberg

The German finished sixth on Saturday but will start the Brazilian Grand Prix from fifth due to Valtteri Bottas' penalty.

"I am very happy with how qualifying went, this was the best we could do and the car felt great," he said after qualifying.

"We made a good step overnight, we changed the balance and the set-up of the car and found a positive direction and so I was much happier in FP3 and qualifying."

With the Mercedes and Ferrari duos ahead of him and the Williams of Bottas behind along with Daniil Kvyat, the German expects a "challenging and entertaining" race on one of his favourite tracks on Sunday.

"At the very least we want to hold position in the race and bring home the result because there are some quick cars behind us who will try and make things difficult."

Perez disappointed

While Hulkenberg made it to the top 10, teammate Sergio Perez finished 13th and is to start 11th due to penalties for Daniel Ricciardo and Felipe Nasr.

Perez rued a crucial mistake on his fast lap which he felt robbed him of a Q3 berth. "I think we had a clear opportunity to go through to Q3, so I am quite disappointed," the Mexican said.

"I made a mistake on my final lap in Q2, braking too late into turn one and locking up, and that cost me the chance to be in the top ten."

Coming off from a strong home grand prix, Perez hasn't had the best start in Brazil after practice struggles.

"All weekend I haven't felt completely comfortable with the car. I have taken a different direction with the set-up compared to Nico and I haven't been able to find my rhythm around here," he quipped.

"It's not an ideal situation, but I’m still looking to the rest of the weekend with optimism."

The Silverstone-based team needs to score three points more than Lotus so as to secure fifth place in the constructors' standings this weekend.

Lotus drivers Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado will start in 14th and 15th.