McLaren Racing Director Eric Boullier says the team's improved performance in Singapore Grand Prix qualifying highlights what they can achieve with "the merest sniff of a competitive package".

On one of few circuits where the team don't suffer too much from their horsepower deficit, both McLaren cars made the most of it by getting into the top 10 shootout.

And Boullier would hail the efforts of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, who will line-up eighth and ninth respectively, and reveal the team is targeting a good haul of points in Sunday's race.

"This is a track that we knew would play to the strengths of our package, so it was pleasing to see our drivers pushing the limits right up at the sharp end of the field," he said.

“Getting two cars into the top 10 today sets us up well for what is always a difficult, demanding and unpredictable race. 

"We hope to come away from it tomorrow with more valuable world championship points. Fernando and Stoffel have both driven outstandingly well all weekend, and it was a joy to watch them attacking this difficult and uncompromising street circuit.

"It’s days like today that remind us what we can achieve together when we have the merest sniff of a competitive package."

The 61-lap race is typically incident-packed, and Vandoorne is hopeful McLaren can capitalise on a Safety Car period or two with at least one occurring in each of the previous nine.

“We came into the weekend more or less expecting to get both cars into Q3, and we achieved that today," the Belgian said. "We were always on the pace throughout Q1 and Q2, but perhaps we lacked that little bit extra in Q3 compared to our rivals.

"But nonetheless it’s been a smooth and solid effort from the whole team.

"While today is a good starting point, tomorrow is where it really matters. I might be hoping for quite a few Safety Cars in the race, but I still think we can conclude the weekend on a high."

Sebastian Vettel remains confident Ferrari will be in the battle for victory at the Singapore Grand Prix, despite what he called a "mixed" Friday at Marina Bay.

On a weekend where the Scuderia is expected to have the edge on main rivals Mercedes, it was Red Bull who stole the show, with Daniel Ricciardo leading both sessions, whereas the Italian team hasn't appeared quite on the pace. 

The German was second in the afternoon but would slip to 11th under the lights as traffic in the form of Marcus Ericsson disrupted his first flying lap on the Ultrasoft tyres while an error at Turn 10 would cause him to abandon the second.

Even on the first lap, however, it appeared the Ferrari was slower, as Vettel was half a second down on pacesetter Ricciardo at the second sector point and speaking afterwards, the four-time winner of this race admitted he wasn't happy.

“I thought it was a mixed day, a mixed session,” he said. “Obviously not ideal that I lost the car on my second attempt and overall I’m not yet happy. [I’m] missing a little bit of balance and a bit of confidence.

“I think we tried a couple of things, not sure they’re the right things to do and now we look at what we can do tomorrow. I think we need a bit of time but overall it’s clear that both of us weren’t happy today and we need to improve and get a solution."

And Sebastian is sure Ferrari can find that solution as he didn't seem too concerned by the pace of his former team.

“Our priority is to go as fast as we can and we’ll see where that takes us,” he stated. “It’s not the first Friday they (Red Bull) have been competitive. We’ll see. I’m pretty sure we’ll be close on Saturday.”

While events distorted the picture regarding Vettel, the same cannot be said for teammate Kimi Raikkonen, as the Finn didn't appear to have any problems yet was two seconds slower in ninth in the second session. 

“It wasn’t ideal in the afternoon but overall not a lot of things made sense,” he claimed. “First of all, we need to make sure we have everything where we want and have a good set-up.

“Obviously the tyres are always the key and it’s not any different here than other places. We tried some things and obviously, we have some work to be done.”

The Singapore Grand Prix will remain on the Formula 1 calendar until 2021 at least after a new four-year deal was announced between organisers and CEO Chase Carey on Friday.

The future of the race, celebrating its 10th running this weekend, had been uncertain as the city-state evaluated whether the annual S$150m expenditure it requires to hold the popular night race on the streets of Marina Bay, still carried the same value. 

But with that cost set to fall slightly and ticket sales up for the first time in several years, the event, which had been marked as provisional on the 2018 schedule released earlier this summer, is now guaranteed to feature.

When revealing the new deal, F1 CEO Chase Carey alluded to the excellent reputation the race in Singapore has garnered in such a short amount of time and the popularity it has among drivers and fans with the unique setting and challenge of night racing still as remarkable as it was in 2008.

"The Singapore Grand Prix is a signature Formula One race and therefore we are very pleased that it will continue to feature on the calendar for a further four years," he said. "The first ever night race in this sport is one of the most thrilling events of the year.

"The Singapore Grand Prix, the Singapore Tourism Board and the Singapore government have all done an excellent job in making this an event that involves the whole city and we are looking forward to making the next four years even more spectacular and exciting."

The success of the Singapore race, with 450,000 visitors and over S$1 billion of revenue linked to the event, sits in stark contrast to many other modern races that have come and gone with the likes of India, Korea only lasting a few years, China's future still undecided and nearby Malaysia ending their stint on the schedule after 18 years in two weeks time.

This is one of the reasons why it was imperative Asia's 'Jewel in the Crown' remained and also because Singapore is somewhat of a blueprint for Liberty Media and their ambitions to grow F1 in the future.

"The Singapore Grand Prix has generated significant benefits for our economy as well as the Formula 1 franchise," Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry, S Iswaran commented. "With its global viewership and media coverage, the race has reinforced Singapore's image as a vibrant and innovative city to a wide international audience."

Daniel Ricciardo increased his advantage over the rest of the field to over half a second as Red Bull claimed a 1-2 in Practice 2 ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday.

The Australian completed the double with an impressive 1:40.852s on the Ultrasoft tyre, a 1.6-second improvement on the lap record he posted earlier in the day. It seemed his excellent pace also left teammate Max Verstappen flustered as he made a few errors but still took second.

What was also hugely positive for Red Bull was how their drivers could extract more performance from the tyres on the second and even the third flying lap in some cases. A stark contrast to some who are overheating the rears ad struggling for traction 

Mercedes were third and fourth but that flattered the Silver Arrows as Lewis Hamilton and particularly Valtteri Bottas didn't appear to have same grip and confidence in the twisty second and third sectors.

Nevertheless, the Briton was only a tenth slower than Verstappen and with the extra engine power in qualifying could still threaten the top three places.

On Friday evening, they attained P3 and P4 as Ferrari had quite the stinker of a session. Kimi Raikkonen was some two seconds off Ricciardo's pace in ninth, while Sebastian Vettel was held up by Marcus Ericsson's Sauber on his first flying lap and then bumped the TechPro barrier at Turn 10 on his second as he failed to set a low-fuel time on the purple-marked fastest rubber.

The German's dramas left him down in 11th and allowed the tight midfield battle to feature further up the order. After announcing their partnership after Practice 1, it was the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg that led the two McLarens of Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso in positions five-to-seven.

The Woking-based team is determined to make the most of their expected stronger pace and, though Alonso was seen scrambling for grip and touched the wall early on, both drivers are in a position to do exactly that.

Also strong are the two Force Indias with Sergio Perez once again highlighting his prowess on the streets of Marina Bay with a strong long run pace and beating Kimi Raikkonen to eighth. Teammate Esteban Ocon was only two tenths further back in 10th.

The two Toro Rossos can also expect a stronger weekend and they are in a position to pounce with Carlos Sainz, who now has a 2018 Renault deal confirmed, 12th and almost four tenths clear of Daniil Kvyat in 13th.

Jolyon Palmer, the man Sainz will replace, was 14th and then the order came two-by-two as both Williams' led both Haas' and the two Saubers completed the timesheets.

Felipe Massa, in 15th, highlighted the closeness of the midfield by only being 1.3 seconds slower than Hulkenberg in fifth and was half a second clear of teammate Lance Stroll, as the Canadian rookie made up for the lost running earlier.

Despite giving his car to Antonio Giovinazzi in Practice 1, Kevin Magnussen was also half a second ahead of teammate Romain Grosjean, highlighting the problems the Frenchman is dealing with.

Finally, at Sauber, where Pascal Wehrlein was fractionally clear of Ericsson but the Swiss team sat some eight-tenths off the rest of the field.

Both Jolyon Palmer and Carlos Sainz have claimed they do expect to remain in their respective seats for the next race in Malaysia, despite speculation the move, which will see the Spaniard replace the Briton for 2018, could be brought forward.

On Friday, the engine swaps which had been reported for several days were officially announced as McLaren ended their partnership with Honda to tie up with Renault with the Japanese manufacturer staying in F1 thanks to a deal with Toro Rosso.

As part of the arrangement, Sainz will be loaned to the Renault works team for next season, with Red Bull still leaving the door open for the 22-year-old to be promoted to the senior team should either Max Verstappen or Daniel Ricciardo leave for 2019.

A side aspect of the story, however, was that Sainz could make the switch to the Enstone team as soon as the next race at Sepang replacing Jolyon Palmer, but the former GP2 champion insisted on Thursday he would be seeing out his 2017 contract.

"Yes. I have a contract with seven more races this year," he said. "There have been suggestions for about 35 races that I might not be in the next few so this is nothing new for me, it is water off a duck's back, it is the same to most races this year so nothing has changed."

On Friday, Sainz himself also rejected the possibility of an early move.

"For the moment I'm 100% sure because that's what I heard," he said as to whether he'd be a Toro Rosso driver in Malaysia. "All the rest is a bit of speculation at the moment and it's something that I'll probably be the last to know.

"All the decisions are taken by Red Bull and Renault. It's something that if it happens it's a negotiation between Renault and Red Bull and nothing to do with me."

Renault Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul also rubbished the suggestion but one element that may still leave questions is the revelation Palmer was not informed of the decision to replace him for 2018 until after it was reported by the media.

"I knew when I read it on Autosport and then I knew it was true as well after I spoke to some people. That was it," Jolyon explained. "Of course I knew with the job I’d done this year, the team is looking for other people because it’s been a tough year but you never know until it’s over."

Asked his thoughts on not being told, he added: "It was a bit of a shame. I don’t even know who leaked it to the media, but the media have their ways, I know. It doesn’t change the outcome, to be honest."

Renault has confirmed they will switch from supplying engines to Toro Rosso and power McLaren from 2018, as well as the arrival of Red Bull junior Carlos Sainz next season on what appears to be a season-long loan.

The news was widely known following reports of deals being done in the last week, however, between practice sessions at the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday, the various moves and changes have been made official. 

First came the agreement of a deal brokered with the help of Formula 1's new leadership that sees McLaren end their troubled partnership with Honda after three years, and begin what is claimed to be a wide-ranging collaboration with Renault from 2018.

“Today’s announcement gives us the stability we need to move ahead with our chassis and technical programme for 2018 without any further hesitation," McLaren Executive Director Zak Brown claimed.

“As an organisation, McLaren has always worked extremely hard to form lasting partnerships with its technical suppliers and we’re convinced that we can bring real value to Renault Sport Racing as we work alongside it to develop this current power unit into a regular race winner."

“This is a strategic decision for Renault Sport Racing," President of Renault's motorsport division Jerome Stoll added. "It is the first time that Renault will work with McLaren and we are proud to have reached an agreement with an organisation that has such a rich Formula 1 history.

"This alliance is not only technical and sporting but also comes with marketing and communication benefits. We know that McLaren will push us hard on track and this competition will be to the benefit of all.”

The broadness of the partnership Renault and McLaren will develop may also tie in with claims the French manufacturer will not renew their engine supply with Red Bull after next season.

Team Principal Christian Horner would then hint at potentially the arrival of Aston Martin, claiming to Sky Sports there was an announcement coming in regards to a "relationship with a car firm" with the luxury British brand a partner with the team.

That was later proceeded by the confirmation of an agreement that will see Sainz move from Toro Rosso to Renault for next year, although the Spaniard will remain part of the Red Bull program.

For the Enstone team, the arrival of the 22-year-old is a major scoop, after having an initial approach turned down last year and is also beneficial for Sainz who has grown increasingly impatient at the junior team.

"Carlos Sainz is a very promising driver who has been on our radar for some time, especially after his successes in Renault junior formulae," Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul said. "It is positive news for us to be able to confirm Carlos for 2018.

"This choice is well aligned with our mid-term strategic plans. We feel that Nico and Carlos will complement each other on and off track and the combination should help us push forwards on the grid. I would like to thank Helmut Marko for loaning Carlos to us for this period."

The news does also confirm the exit of Jolyon Palmer, who has struggled compared to teammate Hulkenberg although has also endured poor reliability.

"We must thank Jolyon for his ongoing hard work with the team and his efforts over the past two seasons," Abiteboul added. "He is a dedicated driver and we wish him the best in the next steps of his career.”

For Sainz, however, it was clear he is thrilled by the opportunity that he has been given and is keen to make the most of the experience at a team looking to once again become a major player.

“I’m very happy to be joining Renault," he said. "To be a Formula 1 driver for a manufacturer team is an honour and I hope to reward Renault’s faith in me with my very best performances on track.

"The trajectory of the team is exciting and I’m proud to join at such an important time in their history. I am looking forward to working with everyone at Enstone and Viry and driving alongside Nico Hülkenberg.

"I have worked closely with Renault in Formula 1 and previously in motorsport, so I know their motivation and capabilities. This is the start of a very exciting new chapter in my career. I would like to say thank you to Red Bull for all their confidence and support and for allowing me to take this opportunity.

"Last but not least, I especially want to thank all the people that work in Toro Rosso. They are a fantastic team of professionals and I wish them the best for the future.”

Daniel Ricciardo is aiming to further improve his Red Bull car in order to maintain the dominance he showed during Friday Practice for the remainder of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend.

The Australian ended the first day of action at Marina Bay with an advantage of over half a second from his teammate Max Verstappen and seven-tenths clear of the first non-Red Bull of Lewis Hamilton in third.

His 1:40.852s in the evening also smashed the lap record which he had set earlier in the day, as the increased grip of the 2017 cars showed on the twisty street circuit.

At the end of the day's action, however, the Baku race winner was still demanding more both on a single lap and on the long run, where the RB13 had also looked superior.

“We made some progress from this morning even if we were quickest this morning," Ricciardo commented. "I was still wanting more from the car and we found another step and I think we can find yet another half a step.

“The long run, surprisingly we did quite a few laps,” he added, “I think we can still improve it, but still with the package we have it is pretty good.”

The 28-year-old is known to have strong Friday's particularly at circuits where Red Bull are expected to perform, the most recent example was back in Hungary when the man in Perth led both practices before slipping back behind Ferrari and Mercedes over the weekend.

That experience is probably driving Ricciardo as he is aware the top two teams this season are likely to battle back on Saturday.

“It was a good day. I want to continue like that for tomorrow and Sunday, so I believe we can," he said.

“A dominant weekend is what I am after. It has been a good start. I know the challenge tomorrow. We will potentially be stronger than Ferrari and Mercedes, but I am confident that we can stay there."

Also looking to respond to Ricciardo's pace will be Verstappen. The Dutchman looked a little ragged at times, including a touch against the wall at Turn 10, but he would claim his best time wasn't representative of the pace he believes he can produce come qualifying.

“We all know that Daniel is very, very quick here,” he said of the gap to his teammate. “My fast lap I had to abort because someone has spun and there were yellow flags and I couldn’t use the DRS. So it makes no sense to continue.

“So there’s still some lap time to come, also fine-tuning a bit the engine because we weren’t on top speeds today compared with the other cars that wasn’t great. We’ll see what happens.”

Daniel Ricciardo would post the fastest ever lap around the Marina Bay street circuit as he led Practice 1 for Red Bull at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Australian would post a 1:42.489s on the Ultrasoft tyres to lead the Ferrari and former teammate Sebastian Vettel by a tenth of a second, although with the session taking place in the late afternoon, conditions were not too representative of what they'll be under the lights in Practice 2.

Max Verstappen backed up the case that Red Bull can be a big thorn in the side of the top two by claiming third, as indications Mercedes face a tough weekend began to emerge with Lewis Hamilton some three-tenths down in fourth, albeit did post his time slightly earlier than the others.

Sergio Perez moved his Force India, which features a striking array of mini-wings along the shark fin for added downforce, up to fifth late on ahead of Valtteri Bottas in sixth, with the Finn struggling to maintain rear grip in his Mercedes as the tyres overheated.

Kimi Raikkonen was over a second behind his teammate in seventh in the second Ferrari, almost matched by Fernando Alonso in eighth, who had a momentary issue with a lack of batter power causing the Spaniard some frustration.

Nico Hulkenberg and Daniil Kvyat completed top 10 for Renault and Toro Rosso respectively, already highlighting how competitive the midfield will be with four different teams mixed in with the top three heavyweights.

The session was largely uneventful as drivers took it easy while adjusting to the very different car setups and type of track compared to the high-speed thrills of Spa and Monza. The biggest on-track dramas saw a general lack of grip and a few damp spots from earlier rain as many suffered with power sliding out of the slow corners.

Lance Stroll would miss much of the session for Williams after a gearbox issue and the expectations of a tricky weekend for the Grove-based team also seemed legitimate as Felipe Massa was only 14th.

Haas is another team that could have trouble with the high braking demands around Singapore and both featured down the order with Romain Grosjean 15th and Antonio Giovinazzi, replacing Kevin Magnussen, 16th, only three tenths behind the Frenchman as he once again highlighted his strong pace and put his case forward for a 2018 Sauber seat.

Making his F1 race weekend debut was Sean Gelael with Toro Rosso, after testing with the junior Red Bull team both in Bahrain and Hungary. The Indonesian F2 driver wasn’t so competitive some 3.3 seconds slower than Daniil Kvyat but still ahead of the two Saubers. 

Lewis Hamilton is satisfied the pace shown by Mercedes in Friday Practice means they will be in the fight with Ferrari and Red Bull for victory at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Unlike most races where the Brackley team turn up and expect to lead, today's sessions at Marina Bay were as much about weighing up the potential for the remainder of the weekend as they were optimising the setup of the cars.

On that front, Mercedes do appear roughly in the ballpark albeit Hamilton was some six-tenths off the pace set by Daniel Ricciardo in third behind the Australian's teammate Max Verstappen and with his main title rival Sebastian Vettel yet to set a representative single lap time.

Nevertheless, the Briton wasn't too put off by the state of play after the first three hours of running.

"We had a clean day and got through our sessions without problems," he said. "It was pretty hot out there, the conditions are pretty awesome to cope with, but the grip on the track is fairly good.

"We were obviously close with the field today and we have still got some improvements to make with the car. Red Bull seem like they're very strong and they're thereabouts with Ferrari, so we've got some work to do. But nothing is out of reach."

The same sense of optimism wasn't shared across the garage, as Valtteri Bottas, on his first weekend after being confirmed with Mercedes for 2018, admitted it was a struggle with a general lack of grip in the corners.

"We were making big setup changes between the first and the second session, but still didn't quite find the right setting," he revealed. "There is plenty of work to do from what we learned today, as I was struggling with the overall grip and the balance of the car.

"The car felt quite nervous, so it's not so easy to trust the car when you push. That's the main thing we need to work on so that I can build up my level of confidence."

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel playing down the high expectations and some would argue the requirement of a win at this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix for his championship chances.

The Scuderia suffered what President Sergio Marchionne called an "embarrassing" loss to Mercedes at their home race at Monza two weeks ago, a result that also saw Lewis Hamilton move to the top of the Drivers' Championship for the first time in 2017.

The hot, twisty streets of Marina Bay are anticipated to suit Ferrari much better than their main rivals, however, perhaps even allowing for a similarly crushing victory. Although talking to reporters on Thursday, Vettel reiterated how he doesn't follow predictions.

"In theory, it should be a better here than in Monza, but I think it will be close and it’s been close no matter where we go, on the tracks that are supposed to definitely suit Mercedes or definitely suit Ferrari," he said.

To back up his opinion, the four-time champion pointed at two noticeable occasions when the expected form guide almost got tore up.

"If you look at the qualifying result in Monaco it was black and white in terms of the result, yes but the gaps were small and Valtteri was very close to being on pole," Vettel stated. "Then if you look in Spa, which you could argue was a strong one for Mercedes, we were very strong in the race and also in qualifying."

Instead, when trying to determine the likelihood of success, he concluded: "I go with what we have and what I will feel tomorrow at the track and the car that I then have under me.

"Around here it is important that you trust the car, it makes a big difference at street circuits and I like that. There is no reason to believe that the car shouldn’t be any good, but how good it will be we will find out."

On the championship situation, which now sees the German trailing by three points, Vettel insisted the result this weekend was not going to end his chances of matching Juan Manuel Fangio's tally.

"I think it’s more important to have the lead on Sunday night after Abu Dhabi, so whatever happens along the way happens, the target is clear," he claimed. "We have a lot of races, a lot of time to get points, and then we will count at the end.

On whether he would be disappointed not to win this weekend, he added: "I think it depends on the race. If you have a chance to win and you don’t win, yes, but if you don’t have a chance to win and you don’t win, then not so much."