Adrian Sutil targets ninth in the drivers' standings after solid qualifying in Brazil

Sutil is currently 11th in the championship, tied on points with the absent Nick Heidfeld and two behind Renault's Vitaly Petrov.

The Force India driver qualified in eighth position, seven places ahead of Petrov, and he is confident he can secure enough points to jump ahead of the Russian.

"Another good qualifying session for me to carry on a strong weekend," said Sutil. "I had a good feeling all afternoon and I really enjoyed the session because the balance of the car felt great. The only real issue was the fact that it was quite windy, but I was able to adjust my driving and it didn't catch me out.

"Eighth is a good place to start and I'm feeling confident for tomorrow - whether it's wet or dry. We just have to wait and see what the weather does, but I hope we can come away with a lot of points because I'm targeting ninth place in the drivers' championship. That would be a nice way to end the season."

Sutil's team-mate Paul di Resta will start the race from 11th position after missing the cut to go into Q3 this time out.

The Scot said he was baffled by a lack of top speed from his car.

"I knew it was going to be quite a tough session because I was suffering with a top speed delta compared to Adrian's car and we've not been able to fully understand why that's the case," said di Resta. "It meant I was giving away some time on the straights, which is a little frustrating.

"On the other hand, I have to be reasonably satisfied with P11 and the fact that I only just missed out on Q3. There's rain forecast for tomorrow and we know the car has been competitive in the wet so hopefully we can capitalise on that. And if it's dry we should be strong because our pace during long runs has looked pretty good."