Championship chasing Australian Daniel Ricciardo admitted on Friday that he and his Red Bull team are prepared for a tough weekend of damage limitation at the inaugural Russian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo, who retains a mathematical hope of beating Briton Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate German Nico Rosberg in the title race, said he was disappointed with Red Bull’s lack of competitiveness in Friday practice.

He was 13th, after suffering an engine failure, and German teammate and four-time champion Sebastian Vettel ninth. Both were more than 1.5 seconds adrift of Hamilton’s fastest lap.

“We are definitely further off than we expected,” said Ricciardo. “A win is out of the question, but I think it’s probably going to be a bit like Monza – at this stage damage limitation and aiming for a top five.

“I think we are lacking in both areas — top speed and grip. We didn’t find a real answer. We have a bit of work ahead of us.”

He added that Red Bull will have to focus on making their car more competitive in racing conditions to compete on Sunday.

“We have to try to dial it in. We are a little bit in limbo at the moment. We have to try to hunt for some straight-line speed, so we can attack in the race, because it doesn’t look like we will be on pole. We have to set up for Sunday.”

Vettel also has issues in his run to ninth-best time: “It looks like we will struggle here; it’s a nice track, but maybe not made for us,” the German said.