Daniel Ricciardo said that he wasn't surprised to end Friday fastest, after Red Bull dominated Singapore's first two free practice sessions at Marina Bay.
“I knew we’d come here with a good car,” he told Sky Sports F1 following the end of the second 90-minute session.
"I feel prepared, so I’m not surprised with our performance today," he added.
Naturally, finishing Friday fastest was just the first step in a long race weekend. Qualifying will be vital on the tight and twisting track, where overtaking in the race is always a tall order.
“It’s important that we obviously keep that tomorrow," Ricciardo acknowledged. "But I have a lot of faith we can stay here all weekend."
Ricciardio's best time of 1:40.852s was an impressive half a second faster than anyone else, even his team mate Max Verstappen.
With Singapore well established as a 'bogey' circuit for Mercedes, Ferrari had been expected to be Red Bull's main rivals this weekend. Instead, Kimi Raikkonen was only ninth fastest and almost two seconds slower than Ricciardo.
Raikkonen's team mate Sebastian Vettel had been second fastest in the first session. However, he was unable to get a clean lap on ultrasofts completed in FP2 ended up a lowly 11th.
"Seb was there this morning so I think they’ll get it together,” Ricciardo predicted. "I don’t know what programme they were on this afternoon."
“I’m sure we’ll tighten up tomorrow," he said. "But I still expect we’ll be able to stay where we are."
Ricciardo was also asked about reports that Renault had tried to secure his services for 2018. It had reportedly been proposed as part of the complex engine negotiations with Red Bull, Toro Rosso, McLaren and Honda.
Instead, it has now been confirmed that it is Carlos Sainz who be will go on loan to the French works team next season.
"I’m not surprised,” Ricciardo said when asked about the rumours he had been Renault's first choice. "I’m good-looking and fast!"
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