Kimi Raikkonen is back in the running for the drivers' title, Ferrari said on Monday, adding that its rapport with the Finn was now comparable to the one it once had with Michael Schumacher.
Raikkonen arrived at Ferrari at the start of the season, following the departure of the German seven-times world champion whose closeness to the team's technicians and race team was legendary.
The 27-year-old Finn became the only driver to win five races this year on Sunday, picking up ten crucial points in the title race. If he wins the last Grand Prix of the season in Brazil on October 21 and his McLaren rivals do poorly, he could still snatch the drivers' crown.
"It's going to be tough in Sao Paulo but we'll keep trying, right up until the last bend," said Luca Baldisserri, Ferrari's head of track operations.
While Fernando Alonso's rapport with his McLaren team is publicly stuttering, Ferrari believes the increasingly productive relationship between Raikkonen and its pitlane team could be decisive.
"We work with him now the way we did with Schumacher," Baldisserri said.
Raikkonen is currently third in the standings, seven points behind leader Lewis Hamilton and three behind Alonso.
The Ferrari team admits that the odds are stacked against Raikkonen winning his first world title in Brazil but it is fired up to help him win the race at least - just in case his McLaren rivals slip up.
Raikkonen would be crowned world champ if he won, Lewis Hamilton finished outside the top six and Alonso did no better than third.
"I'll do everything I can to win in Brazil, even though the outcome (of the championship) doesn't just depend on what we do," the Ferrari driver said as the team prepared to leave Shanghai.
"It'll be a fine battle. I don't believe in miracles but we're all human and mistakes can always happen. We are going to Sao Paulo to win and to hope for something else too".
Italian newspapers greeted Raikkonen's win with excitement on Monday after practically accepting defeat a week earlier, when Hamilton won in Japan.
Ferrari Wins and Opens Up the Championship Again, Corriere dells Sera wrote on its front page, noting that it was 21 years since three drivers had still been in the running for the title in the last race.
