Daniel Ricciardo says drivers are lobbying to be given an extra set of full wet weather tyres they can use on Fridays in the event of wet conditions.

Drivers are given three sets of full wet weather tyres and four sets of intermediates per race weekend. However they can also receive an extra set of intermediate tyres for use on Friday only in the event of wet conditions, to encourage more running.

Ricciardo said drivers have asked for the rules to be changed so they can also have an extra set of full wet weather tyres.

“The problem is, we’re trying to get this changed hopefully by next year, we get one free set of intermediates on Friday but we don’t get one free set of [full wets],” Ricciardo told the BBC. “So basically any [full wet] tyre we use today costs us. If we need to use them in qualifying or the race they’re already a bit not-brand-new, basically, and it’s going to hinder us.”

Very wet conditions during the second practice session on Friday meant just 30 laps were completed by the 20 drivers, all of which was done on the full wet weather tyre. Only five drivers set times and six, including Ricciardo and team mate Max Verstappen, did not leave the pits at all.

“We can use a set of inters but we’ve got to wait for it to be inters [conditions],” said Ricciardo during the session. “If it’s extreme conditions we’re not going to run, and that’s looking ahead to qualifying if it’s wet. It’s a bit of a shame.”

Ricciardo believes Red Bull can be competitive if the rain persists but Ferrari will be strong in dry conditions.

“I was just looking at some GPS overlays that we get, we can compare the others. We seem quick in the corners but slow on the straights. The usual, but maybe too much. It seems like we probably ran more downforce than the others this morning. We’re probably going to look at a compromise, Sunday looks dry, so we’ll look into that.”

“Generally we got out of the box and did pretty well. We’re there, I think Ferrari certainly look pretty good, even their long-run pace was strong. I think in [wet] conditions we could be pretty handy.”

2017 Japanese Grand Prix