There are a few grim statistics floating around Ferrari currently. But the one that will be causing Maranello’s personnel the most sleepless nights is Lewis Hamilton’s current win tally. From the last seven Grands Prix, Hamilton has won six of them, meaning that outscoring Sebastian Vettel by eight points at the next one will see Hamilton claim his fifth world title.

The one of those seven that Hamilton didn’t win was the Belgian Grand Prix. The first race back after the summer break, Mercedes watched aghast as Vettel sailed past Hamilton for a comfortable victory. It seemed the tone had been set for the rest of the season, while Ferrari’s front-row lock-out at the following Grand Prix in Monza appeared to confirm that.

But then Hamilton won the race, while an impetuous first-lap move by Vettel saw him fall down the order before recovering to fourth. From then on, Mercedes have soared as Ferrari have faltered, with Hamilton winning every race since to head Vettel by 67 points in the drivers’ standings, while Mercedes’ advantage in the constructors’ is up at 78.

So does Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene have an impossible task on his hands to guide Ferrari to their first title since their 2008 constructors’ triumph? Perhaps… but it’s all part of the job description, apparently.

“I know that the situation looks impossible,” said Arrivabene following Hamilton’s Japanese Grand Prix victory in which Vettel could only finish sixth. “But our job sometimes is to challenge the impossible. And this is what we're going to do and trying to do for the future races.

“We win and we lose together and I'm the final responsible [person]. But I have to say that concerning [the race in Japan], the team and the drivers, they reacted very well. We had circumstances during the race that impeded us to achieve the podium. But at least the podium was in our hands today and the cars, even if damaged… were going quite well.”