Bourdais laments last-lap slump

The Frenchman, putting on his strongest performance of his rookie season, crossed the finish line in third place when there was one lap to go.

But the conditions were too poor for his dry weather tyres and the Toro Rosso driver dropped to seventh place in the end.

Bourdais admitted he did not even know where he had finished.

"On the last lap it was a lottery with the car getting away from you with every turn of the wheel," said the Frenchman. "It's a horrible situation, as everything had been under control up until then. But I am not in a situation where I can risk everything and at the end of the race I didn't even know where I finished.

"It was so close to being a great result I felt I could almost touch it and so it was a very frustrating way to finish what was a great weekend up to that point. Such a shame, but nevertheless a very strong result for the team."

Teammate Sebastian Vettel also ran in third position before losing two places in the final meters.

The German was still pleased with the result after one of the best weekends for his team.

"Both me and Seb have good reason to smile after a race like that," said Vettel. "The last lap was unbelievable and I was shocked as I got passed in the last fifty metres and then Heidfeld followed by Alonso drove past me with a "whoosh" on their intermediates.

"It was very tricky at the end and you really had to trust your car. We were all saying that Eau Rouge and Blanchimont are now flat, but with a few drops of rain, I tell you, you see the real nature of these corners.

"Overall it was a fantastic race, even though I was stuck in traffic for a while.

"But I was very happy with the car and we had a very strong pace today. The guys at the front are still in a different dimension, but we have made some good steps forward and now it is up to us to use that potential at the next few races."