Gasly "exceeded expectations" with P9 at Spa

Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly admitted that the team and himself did not expect to finish as high as they did, with the Frenchman coming in at P9 and thus earning two points for the Italy-based team.

Although Gasly couldn't get close to the cars in front of him, which were the two Haas F1 cars, Gasly still looks back on a very positive race weekend in Belgium.

"With our top 10 grid position and ninth place in the race, we exceeded our expectations, so it was a very positive start to the second half of the season," he told Speedweek.

"I actually had a fairly quiet race.

"I started in tenth and was able to pass Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen in the first corner on the inside.

"That put me in 8th position.

"Several laps later, Valtteri Bottas overtook me, but we knew that we could not do much against the Mercedes."

The Frenchman, who will replace Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull in 2019, was realistic in knowing he wasn't going to be able to put up a fight against the likes of Haas and Force India, as they were simply a class above him.

"We knew that the long straights would make it difficult for us, especially as Ferrari and Mercedes arrived with new engine updates.

"The Ferrari-fueled Haas cars and the Force India with their Mercedes engines were therefore too fast for us."