Nico Hulkenberg says his Mexican Grand Prix qualifying lap in Q3 was his best of the 2016 Formula 1 season so far, after securing fifth on the grid.
Force India looked strong in practice and Hulkenberg continued the good form into qualifying to snap up a spot on the third row.
His team-mate and home favourite Sergio Perez could only manage 12th, but Hulkenberg says he put in his best lap of the season and got everything from the car.
“It’s been a very good qualifying session for me and I am very happy with the result,” he said.
“Our car works pretty well on every circuit, but I felt it just got better and better through qualifying as the track improved.
“My first lap in Q3 was mega, possibly my best qualifying lap of the season, and I don’t think there was anything more I could extract from it.
“We need to keep ourselves out of trouble at the start but I won’t let what happened last week influence me: every time you get to Turn 1, there is a unique dynamic and you just have to play it by ear.
“We have a good idea of where we are for the race and we’ll get our head down and build on today’s result.”