With Max Verstappen and Red Bull pulling further away at the top of the standings Ferrari might be praying for a miracle.
Until now the Italian team have kept the leaders honest, not allowing them to pull too far away despite their own reliability issues. But the outlook feels a lot different in the wake of a disastrous weekend for Ferrari at the French Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc crashed while leading the race, allowing Verstappen to move 25 points further clear at the top of the table. And Carlos Sainz could manage only fifth after starting from the back and apparently being hampered by a bizarre pit call from his team.
In the middle of a season riddled with reliability issues and tactical errors, Ferrari just need a stress-free weekend ion Hungary to steady the ship. And that is exactly what Sainz is praying for.
Asked if he wants a clean weekend, he replied: "We need it! But everyone needs a clean weekend, I think. We all strive for clean weekends. In F1 they are more difficult to get than people think.
"It's still a long year ahead and as we've seen this year, anything can happen in any race and it’s been such an up and down year for everyone. Even if the top four is consistent then the outcome of the weekend is not what you expect. There's a still a lot to play for and a lot to go for."
Still, the Spaniard know the task of reeling in Red Bull is a huge one with 10 races to go – and admits Ferrari need their rivals to suffer some of the bad luck they have had. "I think it is clear for Ferrari what we need to do, which is to win those races that Max wants to win," he added.
"Getting those 25 points makes quite a big difference in the points swing. I think there's still a lot of things that could happen up there at the front – there's always a great battle going on between the two teams which I think is going to keep going until the end of the year.
"It is true at some point we need a bit of help from Red Bull in terms of reliability and DNFs, but even without those statistically if it's open, it's open. Until it's impossible, you need to keep believing and you need to keep trying to win everything you can and keep yourself in the fight. We're going to keep trying, keep improving as a team because whatever we can learn this year can also be used for the next few years."
