Belgian GP: Jean-Eric Vergne says slow start a stroke of luck

Both Vergne and his Toro Rosso team-mate Daniel Ricciardo benefited greatly from the first corner crash that marred the start of the race. They went on to finish eighth and ninth respectively, the first points-scoring outing for Toro Rosso since the Malaysian GP.

Vergne said it was a slow start that put him in a position to avoid the carnage.

"I did not get a very good start, as I just touched the anti-stall," he admitted.

"That meant quite a few cars passed me and that's when I saw there was a crash. I braked and took a line as near to the inside as possible and I came out of it without too much trouble.

"I enjoyed myself today and I think we are on the right track, although it's hard to say exactly what was better about our car this weekend. We will analyse everything that happened this afternoon with the intention of being even stronger in Monza next weekend."

Ricciardo, meanwhile, was ecstatic to score his first points since Melbourne, although he did acknowledge that his two stints on the hard tyre cost him a couple of positions.

"That was good fun!" said the Australian.

"We managed to benefit from the incident immediately after the start, when I had got a good run off the line. Then I managed to move right to the inside going through the hairpin and came out sixth.

"My first stint was on the medium tyre and I think I ran as high as fourth at one point. However, I was not quite as quick in my last two stints which were on the prime, so I dropped a couple of positions.

"You always want to do better, you always want more, but you can't complain with ninth."