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Sebastian Vettel is hopeful that topping the timesheets in Friday practice for the Singapore Grand Prix is a sign that Red Bull Racing is back on form after scoring only one point in the last race at Monza.

The 22-year-old believes that, although it is difficult to make any definitive conclusions about the relative pace of the car after today's running, the team is stronger here than it was in the Italian Grand Prix.

"It definitely looks better than Monza, so I'm more optimistic," said Vettel when asked by AUTOSPORT if he believed the team could fight for victory.

"But on Friday it's always difficult to say how quick you are and here it's more difficult because people catch a lot of traffic. I haven't seen the laptimes, so we will sit down tonight and see, but it seems better than the last race."

Vettel added that he was happy with the balance of his Red Bull RB5, which allowed him the confidence to push hard on the twisty Marina Bay track.

"You can't really have a perfect car here," said Vettel. "It's always a compromise because there are so many bumps and it's quite a rough circuit.

"The speed might not be so high, but it's challenging and you're fighting your car, but if you have a good feeling and the confidence then you can push. I feel quite comfortable."

Vettel lies 26 points behind championship leader Jenson Button with just 40 to play for, but insists that he has not given up on winning the title and will go all-out for victories.

"I wish we had 10 races to go, but we don't," said Vettel. "We will just try to get the maximum out of these four races and whatever happens, happens.

"It's maximum attack!"