Ricciardo finished close behind Rosberg in Singapore
Wednesday 21 September 2016 10:26, UK
Christian Horner hopes Red Bull will have another chance to beat Mercedes in 2016 after running them close in Singapore.
Daniel Ricciardo finished less than half a second off Nico Rosberg on Sunday, as Red Bull came closer to victory than at any point since Max Verstappen's victory in Spain.
And Horner admitted the strength of Mercedes means it will take more than just a good performance to secure a spot at the top of the podium.
"We got pretty close, within half a second," he said. "We beat one Mercedes fair and square so hopefully opportunities will present themselves over the remaining six races.
"But Mercedes have been so strong at every venue so it's going to rely on something different happening, whether it's conditions, tyre degradation or something along those lines."
A change in strategy towards the end of the race saw Ricciardo come agonisingly close to catching Rosberg, but Horner was adamant that Red Bull couldn't have done any more to try and win.
"Nico had a very strong weekend and he had a bit too much for us in qualifying and in the race," he said.
"We tried everything we could, we tried a different strategy at the end of the race that forced [Mercedes] to stick to the two-stop, and while Daniel did a fantastic job to close Nico down, they just left enough in hand to keep a margin to the chequered flag.
"To get within half a second after two hours was a great performance, but today just wasn't quite enough."
Don't miss the F1 Report for all the reaction and analysis from the Singapore GP. F1 technical expert Craig Scarborough joins Natalie Pinkham and Marc Priestley in the studio at 8:30pm on Wednesday on Sky Sports F1.
