'The maximum possible' – Hulkenberg on Audi's fight for points in Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Nico Hulkenberg believes that P10 and the final point on offer was "the maximum possible" in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the Audi driver having recovered from a 10-second penalty.

Hulkenberg lined up fourth on the grid for last Sunday's 71-lap race in Brazil, the German having starred in a wet Qualifying session and promoted two spots by grid penalties for George Russell and Charles Leclerc.

The Audi racer eventually slipped down the order in the Grand Prix as wet conditions at the start soon dried, and found himself battling Franco Colapinto's Alpine on fringes of the points.

Hulkenberg moved ahead at Turn 1 but only after cutting the track, meaning he received a 10-second penalty, which the German served at a late pit stop as drivers pitted for intermediate tyres amid another rain shower.

Having dropped to P11, Hulkenberg charged after Arvid Lindblad before passing the Racing Bulls driver seven laps from the end.

"It was a good move [on Lindblad], set him up a little bit on the entry for the exit with an undercut. It felt nice, felt good, especially after the penalty, obviously to fight back for that position," said Hulkenberg.

"I think that was the maximum possible really today. We didn't have that much pace to offer on the slick or the intermediates, so we'll have to take that and review."

The result was only Hulkenberg's fifth time in the points during a Grand Prix this season, with Audi reducing the gap to Haas for P7 in the teams' standings down to just three points.

Team mate Gabriel Bortoleto finished P16, the Brazilian home hero having crashed out early in Qualifying, which ultimately left him P19 on the grid.

"When I was able to be in free air and put some pace out there [it] was very positive," he said.

"But obviously it's a consequence of yesterday, starting from the back you need to overtake people. Was not easy to overtake because obviously we are limited by the power that we have when it's raining, so we're limited to 250Kw.

"Difficult to get some top speed difference on the straight and I got a bit stuck behind other cars, and when I managed to get free air the pace was very positive and also in the wet at the end, when we put on the inter was very good.

"It's a shame, I think home race was not how I expected. The love from the fans was there and I really appreciate it, so we go to the next one."