Sebastian Vettel will line fifth on tomorrow's Brazilian GP grid, sandwiched between Red Bull nemeses Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.
The German has struggled on Saturdays recently, and was beaten in qualifying for the third time in succession by team mate Kimi Raikkonen, but Vettel did not believe the result was an underperformance.
"Today was a good day I think although I'm obviously not entirely happy, as the second row was there for both of us I think," said the Ferrari driver.
"Kimi did a very good job today and nailed it when it mattered. There have been a couple of qualifying sessions where I didn’t deliver my best, so you have to be fair."
"I was very happy with the first run, the second run was probably a bit too shy and too aggressive at the wrong point.
"All in all, I think it was a lot better on one lap today than it was yesterday, and on the long runs were usually quite strong. "
Vettel is expecting a close fight with his Red Bull rivals when the lights go green tomorrow afternoon.
"We can show what the car can do and for tomorrow I think we usually find more consistency and pace, so I am confident we can have a real battle for the podium.
"Our main opponent will be Red Bull, Mercedes seems a bit too quick… maybe there will be some rain, we need to be sharp and make the right calls. We should have a good race tomorrow."
FULL REPORT: Hamilton secures crucial pole by 0,102s from Rosberg
Silbermann says ... I'm going AWOL
Romain Grosjean column: Time for Haas to raise its game
FEATURE: What Rosberg need to do to win the title in Brazil
INTERVIEW: Fernando Alonso: Why F1 is no longer just for heroes
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
