Daniel Ricciardo is confident he can challenge Sebastian Vettel for victory in the Singapore Grand Prix after a Mercedes resurgence failed to materialise.
While the focus was on Vettel's 1.5s margin over Lewis Hamilton in the lead Mercedes following qualifying, Ricciardo in second was also half a second adrift of the pole-sitter. However, the Red Bull driver is confident his race pace puts him in the mix for victory.
Asked if Singapore is Red Bull's best chance of a win this season, Ricciardo replied: "It is definitely my best chance.
"I think coming into the weekend we thought it would be our best chance to get back on the podium and today’s result show it has backed up the confidence I and the team had in the car. Tomorrow is where the points are and the champagne is, but we have put ourselves in the best position today obviously, Seb was out of reach, so second best today and we will try and get one more tomorrow.
"It is always a challenge here, it is hot, long and physical, so it is a test for the driver and I think that is fun. Pretty happy with how the weekend has gone. You need a lot of confidence in the car here and it has felt quick out of the box so I am really pleased."
And Ricciardo admits he shared Vettel's belief that Mercedes was hiding pace prior to qualifying.
"It is nice to be back up here on the front row. It has been a while. It’s a coincidence it is Seb and I, but I hope for a good race tomorrow and I think already qualifying was exciting. To have no Mercedes up here is a surprise to everyone, I thought they were playing a few card games yesterday but it seems they are not particularly comfortable here this weekend so it is nice to capitalise on that and then tomorrow it will be nice to be back here.
"I am really happy for the team as well, I think we have made a lot of progress since Silverstone, but I think particularly since Budapest. The car has really come alive and it is nice we can show that here. We expected to work well, so we are pretty happy and we will try to hang in on the long runs so we can make a race of it."
REPORT: Vettel storms to Singapore pole as Mercedes dominance ends
AS IT HAPPENED: Singapore Grand Prix qualifying
Click here for some of the most memorable crashes at Singapore
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