Our Frenchman stopped to put on intermediate tyres as soon as the race got underway after several laps behind the safety car.
A good stop by the team enabled him to gain three positions before keeping his composure to fend off the attacks of Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton in the battle for third place.
Pierre Gasly: "I'm so happy for the whole team today. This result is for everyone on track and in the factories at Viry and Enstone. It's special to achieve third place at Spa-Francorchamps, with all its history and personal moments that are particularly close to my heart. We took some risks in qualifying on Saturday morning and it paid off as we finished sixth. After that, it took a well-executed pit stop to switch to intermediates, which enabled us to gain several positions to be able to be in the top three. It wasn't easy to hold off Sergio [Perez] and then Lewis [Hamilton], but we managed to do it and I'm really pleased. We're now concentrating on the main race tomorrow. We know it's going to be tough from twelfth place, but we can approach it with a bit more confidence and hope to come away with another good result."