MEXICO CITY ¨C Lewis Hamilton hopes Ferrari can repeat last year¡¯s Mexican Grand Prix triumph this weekend but teammate Charles Leclerc sounded a more pessimistic note on Thursday, saying a victory looks out of reach without ¡°strange things happening.¡±
Carlos Sainz, who is now driving for Williams, delivered Ferrari¡¯s last victory 12 months ago in Mexico, with the team now on a 23-race winless streak.
¡°I think we were very strong here last year. So I¡¯m hoping that we can take the learnings that they had last year and apply them this weekend,¡± Hamilton, who has yet to stand on the podium since joining the Italian team in January, told reporters.
The seven-time world champion faces the additional challenge of missing the first practice session, with endurance racer Antonio Fuoco taking the seat to gain Formula One experience.
¡°I¡¯m missing P1, so this weekend I need to learn to run straight away pretty much,¡± he added.
Leclerc struck a more downbeat tone about Ferrari¡¯s immediate prospects.
¡°At the moment it doesn¡¯t seem very likely that we are going to fight for the win this weekend but never say never,¡± he said.
¡°Last year obviously was a very positive weekend for the team. Carlos was actually very strong the whole weekend and it was difficult for me to get close.
¡°I hope we can reproduce that, but I feel like we are further away compared to last year,¡± added Leclerc, who is fifth in the drivers¡¯ championship and has been on the podium six times this season.
¡°So until the end of the season, I think it¡¯s going to be very tough to win races in a normal race without any strange things happening.¡±
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