Alguersuari delighted with charge to eighth after difficult qualifying

The Spaniard had qualified down in 18th position after being knocked out in Q1, but on Sunday put on a superb drive to finish in eighth place.

It was the Toro Rosso driver's second consecutive finish in the points and Alguersuari was elated.

"I am very happy with this result, especially after I only qualified in eighteenth place," said Alguersuari. "It definitely paid off to concentrate on race set-up. This was a fantastic race and I want to thank my mechanics who worked so hard after the problems we had with my car on Friday during Free Practice.

"This result is a reward I am happy to give them. Even though I still struggle to get the best out of the tyres in qualifying, I feel I now have a much better understanding of how to use them in the race and that's definitely the best way round as the points are only given out after the race!

"We were able to run at a consistent pace all afternoon, which was the key to this result and it's the first time this season that I have had this feeling from the car and I am happy about that.

"Apart from working well with the tyres, I think the updates the team brought here were also a contributing factor, as they worked well and that partly explains why my pace was really good."

Team-mate Sebastien Buemi finished down in 13th position, the Swiss mystified by his lack of pace.

"First of all, congratulations to Jaime who drove a very good race to bring home some valuable points for the team," he said. "I had a very good start, passing quite a few people and running at a strong pace in the early stages.

"However, as soon as I had degradation from my tyres, my lap times slowed and I was no longer able to pass other cars. Now, immediately after the race, I'm not sure why I was not quick enough, as after the first stint I could no longer match my team-mate's times, so we will have to look at the data.

"So, I am a bit disappointed, but we can sort it out and be ready to try again at Silverstone in two weeks time."