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-times 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."
