Hulkenberg's best lap of the day came in Q2 when he clocked 1:21.653 but in Q3, his timing of 1:22.847 got him P10.
Paul di Resta marginally improved his timing in Q2 (1:21.813) but that was not enough for him to get into Q3.
Force India are one point behind Williams in the constructors' championship on 46 and needed a good qualifying session today to get past them.
Both the Williams drivers are in top-10 for tomorrow's race with Pastor Maldonado qualifying eighth and his teammate Bruno Senna juts behind him.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton secured the pole position with his fastest lap of 1:20.953 and was followed by Lotus' Romain Grosjean (1:21.730) and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel (1:21.416).
India's Narain Karthikeyan will start the race from the last position at 24th.
