Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo says he wants a “dominant weekend” after he comfortably led the way during Friday practice for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Ricciardo headed the first session around the streets of Marina Bay and underlined his advantage during the second session, finishing over half a second clear of team-mate Max Verstappen.
Ricciardo accepted that Ferrari and Mercedes are likely to pose a greater challenge across the remainder of proceedings but also expressed confidence that he can control proceedings.
“It was a good day out there today, but I expected this, to be honest, and am not really surprised with our performance,” said Ricciardo.
“I knew we would come here with a good car. We made some progress from the morning and even though we were the quickest in FP1, I still wanted to get more out of the car and the set up in the afternoon.
“We took another step forward throughout the day, which was good and we now hope there is still more room to improve for tomorrow.
“I’m after a dominant weekend and so far this has been a good start. It’s important that we obviously keep that for tomorrow but I have faith that we can perform on this level all weekend.
“I know the challenge in qualifying will be a potentially stronger Ferrari and Mercedes but I’m confident we can stay up there and fight with them at the top.”
Verstappen echoed Ricciardo’s confidence and is optimistic about his prospects of remaining in the fight for overall honours.
“Compared to our competitors we look very strong, we didn’t expect to be this competitive so of course this is very pleasing for us,” said Verstappen.
“We still have to be cautious and work on all aspects because we know that in Q3 tomorrow they will have improved and be closer; for now we look in a good position.
“Qualifying will be tight but I’m confident that our race pace offers us the chance of a good result. We know this should be one of our best tracks so we will do our best to capitalise on that.”
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