Lewis Hamilton is unsure if Mercedes will be able to outpace Red Bull during Formula 1 qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturdayꦕ, having struggled to match Dani🎃el Ricciardo and Max Verstappen's times through Friday's practice sessions.

F1 driver🐷s' 🦋championship leader Hamilton finished fourth in FP1 and third in FP2, trailing the Red Bull drivers in both sessions as Ricciardo laid down an ominous pace at the top of the order.

While Hamilton expect💯ed Red Bull to be quick, he conceded he was caught out by just how quick, but is refusing to give up on hopes of winning in Singapore for a third time.

"The Re🍸d Bulls are very quick, as we expected. Perhaps a little more than we expected," Hamilton said.

"I thi🐼nk we’re relatively close to Ferrari so that’s how it is. We target to win races but [finishing thiꦚrd] is not something I’m thinking of. If we get third I’m thinking about winning.

"Of course we want to make🍎 sure I’m ahead of Sebastian [Vettel], so that’s my goal."

Red Bull started the season well off the pace compared to Merꦰcedes and Ferrari, but Hamil♎ton would not be surprised to see Ricciardo or Verstappen clinch the team's first pole of the year in Singapore on Saturday.

"Red Bullꦆ were rapid so we just got to accept that they are super fast and I don’t know if we’ll be able to beat them in qualifying, but we shall see," Hamilton said.

"Ferrari a little bit closer to us sওo hopefully we can fight Ferrari which is a good thing."