'All to play for' – Hulkenberg reflects on strong Sao Paulo Qualifying for Audi

Nico Hulkenberg believes there is "all to play for" in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with the Audi driver set to start Sunday's race from fourth on the grid.

The German was one of the star drivers during a wet Qualifying session at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, with proceedings initially delayed after heavy rain hit the circuit.

Once running took place, Hulkenberg featured towards the top of the leaderboard, eventually taking the fifth-fastest time in the first two segments of Qualifying, before finishing P6 overall.

Hulkenberg, who took his only Formula 1 pole position at the track in 2010 – also in a rain-affected session – will start two spots higher due to grid penalties for George Russell and Charles Leclerc.

The result was Hulkenberg and Audi's best of the season and comes after the one-time podium finisher failed to complete any running on Friday after technical issues with his car.

"Typical, classic Sao Paulo I guess. You never know when the shower is going to hit you and how hard it is," said Hulkenberg.

"But very happy obviously after yesterday, good recovery and I guess the rain helped a bit as well to make up for that lack of running yesterday. But I was happy, confident with the car, managed to produce good laps and yeah, feels nice, feels good."

"We have to see," he said when asked about what was achievable in the race. "All to play for obviously, we're starting in a good position, try to race clean and get the maximum out of it tomorrow."

Team mate Gabriel Bortoleto was unable to join Hulkenberg in Q3 after the Brazilian crashed out in the opening segment of Qualifying.

The home hero ran off the track at Turn 12 at the bottom of the hill, skating across the wet grass and into the tyre barrier.

Although able to recover back to the pits, the damage sustained to his car meant he was unable to continue, leaving him "very disappointed with myself".

"[It] was tough. I messed up, was early in the Qualifying, I locked up a bit, went straight in the grass and I couldn't stop the car in time before hitting the wall," said Bortoleto.

"Obviously then I had rear wing issues, or damage, and I couldn't continue."