CNN
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Ferrari’s miserable season has gone from bad to worse as the Italian manufacturer failed to get either car into the top 10 at its home grand prix for the first time since 1984.

Sebastian Vettel didn’t make it out of the first qualifying round and could only muster a lowly 17th place, while teammate Charles Leclerc made it into the second qualifying round but could only claim 13th on the grid ahead of Sunday’s race.

Ferrari knew it would struggle for speed coming into this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, but even they couldn’t have predicted things would be this bad.

Leclerc sits in fifth place in the drivers’ championship with 45 points, already 112 points behind runaway leader Lewis Hamilton. Things are even worse for four-time world champion Vettel, who only has 16 points and sits in 13th place.

In the constructors’ standings, Ferrari is in 5th place and a whopping 203 points behind leader Mercedes.

One miniscule silver lining for Ferrari is that its fervent supporters – known as the ‘tifosi’ – were not present to witness the disastrous performance, with races still being driven behind closed doors.

READ: Lewis Hamilton pays tribute to Chadwick Boseman after Belgian GP victory

“At the end, we expected it a little bit coming into the weekend,” a visibly frustrated Leclerc told Sky Sports. “We knew Spa [last weekend] and here were the two worst tracks for us. It’s like this … it’s tough.

“For now, it’s like this and I need to extract the maximum out of the car. It hurts even more that it’s at home. This is the reality for us at the moment. We need to work,” Leclerc said.

At the top of the leaderboard, Mercedes recorded yet another 1-2 as Lewis Hamilton secured his 8th pole at the Italian Grand Prix, with teammate Valtteri Bottas narrowly losing out by one tenth of a second to start second on the grid.

“It was a fantastic performance from the team,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. “It wasn’t the easiest, you’ve seen how close it was between us. It needed a clean lap and I got both.

“Valtteri was strong and kept pushing, I was a bit nervous going through the final sector. In the years I’ve been here, I’ve had times when we had less downforce and grip, [but] the speed through the Lesmos [corner] was awesome. It’s trying to finds the right balance which is not so easy,” Hamilton said.

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz put in arguably the performance of the day to secure 3rd for his best ever grid spot, while Racing Point driver Sergio Perez’s 4th place equaled his best ever qualifying position.

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CNN
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Lewis Hamilton paid his own tribute to Chadwick Boseman after closing to within two wins of Michael Schumacher’s all-time Formula One record by claiming the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The defending world champion led all 44 laps at Spa-Francorchamps, with Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in second place and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen completing the top three.

Hamilton – the only black driver in Formula 1 – was stunned by the death of the 43-year-old actor, who lost a four-year battle with colon cancer Friday night.

On the Spa victory podium, Hamilton posed in the Wakanda salute Boseman made famous as the title character in the film “Black Panther” and then spoke about the inspiration behind another famous victory.

“We are continuing to push the envelope, and it feels great to finish on a high this weekend, particularly with Chad (Chadwick Boseman) dying because he made everyone feel like a superhero,” said Hamilton.

It was his 89th career win as he chases a record-equaling seventh world championship, another historic best held by the legendary Schumacher.

However, it was another humiliating afternoon for Schumacher’s former team Ferrari, with four-time champion Sebastian Vettel in 13th place, and teammate Charles Leclerc finishing 14th, a far cry from his brilliant maiden victory at Spa last season.

Schumacher claimed 72 of his 91 wins with Ferrari, but the team are a sad shadow of that dominant past ahead of their home race at Monza and their 1,000th Grand Prix at Mugello a week later.

The contrast with Mercedes is marked, with Hamilton completely in charge, claiming his fifth win of the season. That leaves him 47 points clear of Verstappen in a one-sided title race.

“It wasn’t the easiest of races,” said Hamilton.

“I had a lock-up, which produced vibrations, at turn five and another one at the last corner, and it was a bit of a struggle, but nonetheless I think it was OK in the end,” he said.

Minor technical issues aside, Hamilton had over eight seconds to spare at the finish, with Verstappen unable to keep pace with the Mercedes pair.

Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo produced the fastest lap on his final lap, as he claimed fourth ahead of his Renault teammate Esteban Ocon, with the second Red Bull of Alex Albon rounding out the top six.

The seeds of Hamilton’s victory were sown on Saturday, when he took the 93rd pole position of his career, breaking the track record to top the grid.

An emotional Hamilton later took to social media to dedicate that qualifying performance to Boseman.

From pole, Hamilton made no mistake, quickly building a solid lead until a safety car was deployed after a heavy crash between British driver George Russell of the Williams team and the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi, who lost control of his car on the exit of the fast Fagnes Chicane.

Fortunately, both walked away without serious injury, as Hamilton steadily built up his lead again once the safety car was released, taking victory in imperious style and leaving the Briton almost two clear wins ahead of his closest rival in the championship standings.