Fast forward 24 hours and the team have a far more positive outlook after mechanics worked overnight to improve the performance of the FW36 to slice more than a second off their deficit to the leaders around the demanding Marina Bay Street Circuit.
In Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix, Felipe Massa, third at Monza last time out, will start sixth on the grid with his team mate Valtteri Bottas just two places back after the pair jumped 10 places up the standings from a day earlier.
"This has been a promising qualifying for us because we have made big improvements compared to yesterday and we are in the mix with the teams around us in the championship," Massa told reporters after finishing just 0.319 seconds behind pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton in qualifying on Saturday.
"Top four may have been possible, especially considering how tight it is, but sixth is a solid result. What is really encouraging is that we identified the problem we had yesterday and the changes we made improved the car as we expected so a really good job by the team."
Bottas sits fourth in the championship, one point ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, after registering four podiums among his seven top-five finishes this season and the Finn is looking for another strong performance in Singapore.
"My out-lap on my final run was a little compromised, and I made a mistake in Turn One, so given how tight it was, I could have gained more places but we need to be satisfied with where we are," Bottas said.
"We know we have the pace to fight with the cars around us so tomorrow should be an exciting race."
(Editing by Toby Davis)
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