Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen's hopes of challenging Mercedes and Red Bull for the win at Spa-Francorchamps were dashed at the first corner, when they tangled along with Max Verstappen.

And on the back of a recovery that got Vettel up to sixth and Raikkonen ninth, Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene thinks there is reason to be optimistic about the performance his team showed.

“Something for me that is encouraging is that after the accident, both cars, they were really damaged on the floor and other parts of the car,” he said.

“Even so the performance... now they are much stronger and the performance we had, considering this damage, was quite good. So we have turned the page and we look forward to Monza with positive hopes.”

Raikkonen and Vettel both felt that they could have taken pole position in Belgium were it not for time lost at the final corner.

When asked by Motorsport.com if he felt the promise was track-specific or a sign of genuine progress, Arrivabene said: “As you know all the tracks have different characteristics, but I think it was also a good sign considering the reaction of our guys on Friday, not only here, but also at home.

“As I said many, many times, underneath we have some people who are trying to depict a different situation.

"The team is very compact, we are all united here and at home and we are looking all together and looking forward to have a good race at the Italian Grand Prix.”