Daniel Ricciardo believes Mercedes are within sight in Abu Dhabi following first and second practice, in which he finished half a second down on Lewis Hamilton in both sessions.
With Nico Rosberg just needing to finish third at worst to claim his first championship, Hamilton will be hoping Red Bull will be in the mix on Sunday, and Ricciardo is expecting to challenge them on race pace.
"It’s hot here, even if it’s night-time and the tyres get worked pretty hard both front and rear so relative to everyone I think we still look pretty good," he said.
"If we all put it together tomorrow we’re more or less there and I’m confident it’ll be a good fight for third place.
"As expected Mercedes are ahead but I don’t think they are miles ahead, so looking at today maybe we can still race them on Sunday."
Ricciardo doesn't believe Mercedes have much more pace in-hand for Saturday and Sunday, though he suspects Rosberg might be playing it safe.
"It’s a dangerous circuit around here, but I don’t see any reason to hold back in practice. If it’s Monaco then I understand if you’re being careful about your equipment but here you can definitely push and go on the limit so we’ll see tomorrow.
"Maybe Nico is holding back a bit and not showing Lewis too much. I think everyone predicts Lewis to take pole so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out tomorrow. I definitely felt comfortable today and am looking forward to the next two days."
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