Leclerc warns: 'Competitors are not showing their true pace yet'

Ferrari closed both the first and second free practice sessions in Singapore as fastest. In FP1, Charles Leclerc was the fastest man, while in FP2 Carlos Sainz dominated. Team principal Fred Vasseur is not celebrating too early, however, as he knows it is still early in the weekend.

"Overall, we are doing well, although qualifying is tomorrow and not today. There is also the question of tyre management, which we need to address sensibly. Tomorrow is another day, but it's always good to start like this," stated a satisfied Vasseur in conversation with Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Based on the results from the first and second free practice sessions, Ferrari seems to be in excellent shape for the Singapore Grand Prix. However, Vasseur does not draw any premature conclusions: "We have to concentrate on the tyres and on the speed over a single lap, but overall it was a good Friday and there is a good atmosphere within the team."

Sainz and Leclerc were also very satisfied with their start to the weekend. "The car seemed to be in the right window from the very first lap in FP1 so we kept focused on fine tuning the set-up during the second session. I expect the track to improve for tomorrow, so we should have higher grip and then we’ll see how much our competitors and ourselves can improve for qualifying," said Sainz.

Leclerc added: "The car looks a bit more competitive than we had expected on a track like this, but we shouldn’t get carried away because I think that our competitors are not showing their true pace yet. We will work on optimising the balance on my side overnight and I’m sure we will see some further improvements for tomorrow."