Sebastian Vettel evaluates Ferrari’s aero update in Singapore: not a match winner, but a slight improvement. Seb evaluates Ferrari's updates .

Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel led the Maranello team’s charge in practice for the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday.

While Sebastian Vettel was just 0.167 seconds off pace-setter Max Verstappen’s Red Bull over the first 90 minutes, he was nearly a second off the pace set by Mercedes’ championship leader Lewis Hamilton in the floodlit night-time running.

Ferrari’s car was aerodynamically well-suited to the flat-out blasts of the Spa-Francorchamps and Monza circuits but the twisty Marina Bay street track, with more corners than any other circuit, has shifted the balance away from the Italian team.

Does the Ferrari aero update work? It’s not a match winner, but it brought a slight improvement. The total downforce of the car has increased. Sebastian Vettel: “The package works but it could be more.”

Sebastian believes he could have gone half a second faster if it weren’t for the traffic. Sebastian Vettel: “Unfortunately, it’s still not enough for Mercedes.” In the longruns the gap is bigger. On the soft tyres 1.2s per lap, on medium tyres 0.3s slower.

“The balance is not here yet, the front axle is not doing what it should do. In the longrun the car is nervous, slips too much. If you don’t have the confidence in the car, it shows in the lap times because the car is not doing what you want it to do.” – Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel concluded.