Ricciardo aiming for surprise pole

Although he suspects Mercedes will bounce back in qualifying, Daniel Ricciardo is nevertheless aiming for pole position in Singapore.

Ricciardo was third fastest in both Free Practice 1 and 2 on Friday, but while Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 in FP1, it was the second Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat that was fastest in FP2. In fact, Hamilton was only P4 while Nico Rosberg was down in seventh.

The Australian knows Merc will up their game come qualy on Saturday, but he believes Red Bull have what it takes to challenge for pole.

"I hope this is [Mercedes'] real pace," he is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. "But, to be honest, I am still not looking to them tomorrow. I am sure they will turn it up and find a way.

"We will aim for [pole], whether we will get it or not is another thing. But I am sure Mercedes will fool everyone – we will do what we can to get as far up the grid as we can possibly get."

He added: "If today is a tell-tale sign, we are looking pretty good," he said. "I hoped the car would be good around here and it looks like that will be the case.

"Normally Ferrari and Williams come a bit closer on Saturday, so we will see what they bring, but we are looking all right.

"We got quite a bit traffic in FP2, so we are even quicker than we showed."