Despite ending up fastest in Friday's practice sessions at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Mercedes' Nico Rosberg said that he remained wary about the threat posed by the team's main rivals this weekend.
Mercedes suffered a rare stumble in Singapore last year, when the race was won by Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, and Rosberg didn't know whether they had managed to get on top of the issues in 2016.
"We know that this is the best track for Red Bull and Ferrari so we have to be careful and do the best we can," cautioned Rosberg. "We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves because last year on Friday we looked okay and on Saturday we were nowhere.
"We can see what they were doing and for sure they were quick today, both Red Bull and Ferrari, also in the long runs. We sure have work to do
"We think more or less we understand the situation, but we thought that as well last year and in the end we have to concentrate on ourselves and maximise what we’ve got.
"Let’s wait and see," he said. "We definitely need to keep on working and getting the most out of it for tomorrow and hope that’s going to be enough to give Red Bull and Ferrari a run for their money.
"It will definitely be important [to get pole] even though we’ve seen in recent races that it’s not the most crucial thing, but definitely that’s what I’ll try and aim for."
Rosberg added that his unfortunate accident in FP1 when he went into the barrier late in the session was nothing to worry about, and not due to an underlying technical issue.
"Just braked too deep and locked up and that’s it. In general the day has been okay, it’s been a decent start to the weekend."
FP2 REPORT: Rosberg heads Raikkonen, reliability woes for Hamilton
Silbermann says ... Not so sleepy in Singapore
Romain Grosjean column: Drivers have a certain shelf life
Chris Medland's 2016 Singapore Grand Prix preview
TECHNICAL: Under the skin of the Red Bull RB12
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hailed Max Verstappen’s sensational Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory…
Carlos Sainz was left scratching his head after a disastrous Sunday at the Sao Paulo…
Fernando Alonso braved both physical agony and mechanical challenges in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix,…
Alpine’s remarkable double podium at the São Paulo Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon and Pierre…
Alexander Albon, Williams (Did Not Start): 5.5/10 Alex Albon is definitely going through something of…
Jos Verstappen wasted no time after his son spectacular win at the São Paulo Grand…