For Ferrari, simply making Q2 was an achievement in itself in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The Scuderia had been towards the bottom of the timesheets all weekend at Spa and were even the slowest team in final practice.

But the embarrassment of being eliminated in Q1 was avoided, only just, and for Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel, 13th and 14th was the best they could muster.

“It’s very difficult to find an explanation,” the Monegasque said. “It’s a big step back compared to the others so we need to try and find the main issue, try and address it.

“It’s not a good day but it’s like this at the moment. We need to keep working very hard. I think everyone in the team needs to keep their heads up even though it’s very difficult in tough times like this.

“I can also understand the fans at home that are very disappointed. It’s understandable but as drivers, we will try and make the best race possible tomorrow even though we can’t expect any miracles.”

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As for Vettel, the inability to fight even the likes of AlphaTauri, who sit between the upper and lower parts of the midfield, was no surprise.

“It is the true picture, it’s what the car can do around here today,” he admitted. “Obviously we tried everything we can and a lot of effort going in from last night to today, trying to make things better.

“I think we did a little bit, but obviously we’re not where we want to be, but that’s not the first race and the first qualifying where that’s the case.

"P13 is not as exciting as P1, but still we tried to put everything together," Vettel added. "This morning we looked like we didn't make it to Q2 and we did with both cars.

"Obviously that's not a success, but it's everything we could do today and where we stand.

“We tried to do our best, it’s obviously the car we have and the car we know for the whole season so far. So it’s not a surprise today.”

While much of the emphasis has been on the lack of engine power Ferrari are currently suffering from, even the more technical middle sector still sees the Italian team well down the pecking order.

Perhaps the most clear example of this was at Pouhon, where Leclerc clearly lifted while Lewis Hamilton was flat-out all the way through.

And even speaking after practice on Friday, team boss Mattia Binotto acknowledged the whole SF1000 package is poor.

"We struggle to make the tyres work," he said. "We are lacking grip, both in braking and acceleration.

"There is no overall performance to the car. So certainly, the drivers are complaining about grip, overall grip.

"I think it's not the potential of our car, and that’s certainly not the normal position for our car, if you compare where we are on the grid and the relative competitiveness to the others.

"I think it’s the same situation on both cars, so it’s not driver related. It’s really the way we set up the car in order to find the right window on the tyres."

The head-scratching will go on...