Lewis Hamilton was baffled by Mercedes' lack of pace in Signapore Grand Prix but welcomed the challenge of Ferrari and Red Bull after being restricted to the third row of the grid.
Hamilton came into Singapore with seven consecutive pole positions to his name, one away from matching the record set by Ayrton Senna over the 1988 and 1989 seasons. However, Mercedes struggled from the outset at Marina Bay, with the team unable to switch on its super-soft tyres as well as Ferrari and Red Bull from the start of FP2.
In the end, Hamilton led a Mercedes lockout of the third row and was unable to explain why the team struggled so drastically.
Asked what the main issue had been, Hamilton replied: "Tyres. I don't know what we have got wrong, but big congratulations to the guys up ahead. To be honest it is a bit exciting to be having that fight. It is the first time we have gone into qualifying pulling even more out of the car if we can and therefore sometimes making mistakes.
"It was really challenging. These tyres, for some reason, aren't working on our car, it's so weird. You heat them up the same as everyone else and then you finish your lap where you think you have okay grip and then you see someone a second up the road, so it is very strange."
Hamilton is not expecting Mercedes to find a magical step forward in pace overnight and thinks it will be tough to challenge the teams in front for a podium.
"The goal is to win the race, but overtaking is very difficult here. The others, particularly the Red Bulls, were very quick on the long runs. We will fight as hard as we can, but I doubt we will find something between now and tomorrow."