Romain Grosjean says he and the Haas team weren't expecting to be so competitive during qualifying in Brazil after he secured their best ever grid position.
The Frenchman will start the Brazilian Grand Prix from seventh place having sailed through to Q3 for the first time since the Japanese GP and for only the third time this season.
"It’s good to be back in Q3, especially after the last two races where we were out in Q1 and really struggling," said Grosjean.
"Here we’ve been trying some new brakes, focusing on making them work as well as we could. The feeling was good right from the beginning and the cooler track conditions today really helped us a lot.
"There are still plenty of margins to improve for the future. We’re always learning more about what we need to do, but we really weren’t expecting to be in Q3 today. Generally though, when we do get things working well together, we’re quite fast, which is encouraging."
Team principal Guenther Steiner says the team are therefore targeting a points finish for at least one of their cars, after Esteban Gutierrez qualified in P12.
"We seem to have ups and downs, but we always come back out on top. Last race weekend we were out in Q1 and now we’re in Q3 with one car and the other finishing 12th. Achieving our best result in qualifying with seventh place for Romain – it’s thanks to a lot of effort from the whole team.
"Starting in seventh and 12th, our aim will be for a points finish. It’s difficult to attain here, but it won’t be from a lack of trying."
