Fernando Alonso says he’s happy to be sixth on the grid in Belgium, given that most of his key title rivals are behind, apart from Kimi Raikkonen

The Spaniard pointed out that sixth has been his usual place over the course of the season.

“I’m happy,” he said. “I think sixth is more or less our position in the whole championship, I think 6.3 or something like that average. So no surprises again. The only good thing for us today is it’s not (Sebastian) Vettel on pole or it’s not (Lewis) Hamilton on pole, so the title contenders, they are behind us, (except) only Kimi in fourth position.

“So it has been a good Saturday, but we need to finish this job. Obviously for us from a championship point of view, if we finish like this, it will be great.”

Alonso said he didn’t underestimate his main title rivals, but added that a Jenson Button win would be good for him.

“They will be strong in the race, but it seems Jenson is doing great in this race,” Alonso said of the pole winner. “If we cannot win, obviously it’s better if someone that’s a little bit more far behind wins, and Jenson is quite a strong candidate tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean says he accepts the FIA decision to ban him from the Italian GP, after he triggered the multi-car first corner crash at Spa.

Grosjean is the first driver to be banned since 1994, a year that saw both Eddie Irvine and Mika Hakkinen punished for triggering incidents, and Michael Schumacher for ignoring a black flag.

“When your life is all about racing, not being allowed to attend an event is probably one of the worst experiences you can go through,” said the Frenchman.

“That said, I do respect the verdict of the stewards. I got a good start — despite being disturbed by Pastor’s (Maldonado) early launch, which I think was the case for everybody at the front — and was heading into the first corner when the rear of my car made contact with the front of Lewis’ (Hamilton).

“I honestly thought I was ahead of him, and there was enough room for both cars. I didn’t deliberately try to squeeze him or anything like that. This first corner situation obviously isn’t what anyone would want to happen, and thankfully no one was hurt in the incident. I wish to apologize to the drivers who were involved, and to their fans. I can only say that today is part of a process that will make me a better driver."

“It’s been a tough day for the team but we fully respect the stewards’ decision,” said team boss Eric Boullier. “Romain won’t be driving at Monza but he still has our full support. We’ll announce the name of his replacement a bit later in the week.”

Williams’ Pastor Maldonado will drop ten places on the grid at next weekend’s Italian round in Monza after being handed two separate penalties by the Belgian race stewards.

Maldonado was punished for jumping the start of the Spa-Francorchamps race and for causing a collision with the Marussia of Timo Glock on Lap Five. He received a five-place penalty for his premature getaway and a second five-place penalty for the accident with Glock.