Williams: We can close the gap on Ferrari

Williams endured frustrating practice sessions at the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday but the team were keen to focus on the positives rather than dwell on a poor performance at a circuit that does not suit their car.

Struggling for pace on the tight Marina Bay Street Circuit, Valtteri Bottas was sixth-fastest in the first session while Felipe Massa could only claim 11th best in the second.

Third-placed Williams have still improved on last season, with three podium finishes and no retirements to date.

"We are ahead of where we were (at this stage) a year ago. We were fourth in the constructors' last year and we are third at this point now and believe that we can close the gap on Ferrari," deputy team principal Claire Williams told reporters.

"Our objective this weekend is to close on Ferrari and we also want to open up a bit more of a gap on Red Bull as well."

With seven rounds remaining, Mercedes top the standings on 451 points, Ferrari have 270, Williams 181 and Red Bull 113.

"We are always proud of the progress our team makes but I admit that we have made a few mistakes along the way, especially our stops in some of the last few rounds," Williams added of some less than sterling pit work at Spa and Monza.

"We know the issues, we have identified them and are always open and honest about them. So when we come to the race track, we need to make sure we don't make the same mistakes."

Looking ahead to 2016, Williams said she was hoping to build on the solid platform the team currently enjoys before a raft of rules changes are introduced the following season.

"(Technical director) Pat Symonds and his team do a really great job with the resources that they have available to them," she added.

"We obviously have to do a better job commercially to bring in more revenue and give them a stronger budget, but they know the job in hand and we have another year of stable regulations before the changes come in.

"We need to capitalise on that stability and make sure we bring the best car to the track when we start racing again next year."