Vettel makes history with Italian GP win

Published 12:09 pm Sunday, September 14, 2008

MONZA, Italy — Sebastian Vettel became the youngest driver to win a Formula One race Sunday after finishing first in a wet Italian Grand Prix from pole position.

The 21-year-old German driver edged Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren by 12.5 seconds on the slick Monza circuit on Sunday to give Torro Rosso its first ever win.

“For sure the best day of my life,” Vettel said. “These pictures, these emotions — I will never forget.”

BMW-Sauber’s Robert Kubica was third ahead of Fernando Alonso of Renault, while Nick Heidfeld of BMW-Sauber was fifth.

Lewis Hamilton worked his way up from 15th on the grid to finish seventh, maintaining his lead in the overall drivers’ standings. Felipe Massa of Ferrari was sixth and now trails the McLaren driver by one point with four races left.

Neither Vettel nor his Toro Rosso team could contain their emotions as the young driver emerged onto the podium with fists pumping, before the champagne sprayed in all directions.

“Who would have thought about that at the beginning of the season?” Vettel said of Toro Rosso’s chances. “We can be proud of ourselves, celebrating a victory. What a weekend.”

Vettel never lost his nerve during the wettest race at Monza for 27 years as he broke Alonso’s mark of F1’s youngest winner. Alonso, a two-time world champion, was 22 when he won the 2003 Hungarian GP.

The safety car was brought out for the start with the steady drizzle failing to let up and all cars using extreme wet tires to navigate the damp track.

Vettel, who also was the youngest driver to start from pole, held his position over Kovalainen on the flying start thanks to a clear track and none of the poor visibility that the rest of the field had to deal with from the resulting spray.

“Being first (and) having no visibility problems at all I think was the key,” said Vettel, who will replace David Coulthard at sister team Red Bull next season. “I could make a gap to Heikki straight away.”

Kovalainen said a brake problem and his tires compromised his chance at challenging Vettel early on.

“It was not possible to win today,” the Finnish driver said. “I was just trying to push and go faster. I think it was the maximum we could do today.”

Vettel’s teammate Sebastien Bourdais was a lap behind to start after his car stalled from fourth on the grid.

Hamilton eventually got past defending F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari and had continued to overtake his rivals, moving up to eighth by the 17th lap.

Massa, who had started sixth, won a gripping overtaking duel with Nico Rosberg to move up into fourth before dropping back again.

“That was probably the decisive moment,” Massa said about his duel with Rosberg. “I’ve managed to make up a point on my nearest rival, so this is absolutely not a negative result.”

Hamilton pitted later than many of his rivals and was trailing only Vettel by the time he stopped to refuel, while Raikkonen — who trails Hamilton by 21 points — was stuck behind the traffic in 10th by his first stop as the drizzle began to let up.

If not for an extra pit stop to get off the extreme wet tires, Hamilton felt he could have finished much higher up.

“I showed I’m quickest in the wet and showed that I have great pace. I think the win was possible today considering the position we were in. If we had chosen to be on the intermediate tire on the first stop … we would have been further up,” the 23-year-old Briton said.

The persistent rain made it difficult to judge conditions and favored those drivers who had taken on more fuel in qualifying.

“It got more tricky in the middle of the race when there was no standing water anymore,” Vettel said. “People went left and right looking for water to cool down the tires. It was very slippery.”

Kubica, who had started 11th, was one of the drivers who benefited from a long first stint as the Polish driver could switch straight onto the dryer tires when he came in for his first pit stop.

“I think we did the right choice, staying out as long as possible for my pit stop,” said Kubica, who shaved four points off of Hamilton’s lead to sit 14 back in third. “The start of the race was very difficult. I overtook Nick (Heidfeld) without seeing him. I keep (the) car on the track.”

Hamilton pushed Mark Webber out down the straight in the closing stages with the cars touching wheels to force the Red Bull driver off the track. Webber finished eighth for the final point.

Only Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella retired despite the slippery conditions.

Sunday at Formula One’s Italian Grand Prix at the 5.793-kilometer (3.6-mile) Autodromo Nazionale di Monza circuit (with driver, country, car, laps completed, time and winner’s average speed):

1. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Toro Rosso, 53 laps, 1 hour, 26 minutes, 47.494 seconds, 212.039 kph (131.755 mph).

2. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, McLaren, 53, 1:27:00.006.

3. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW Sauber, 53, 1:27:07.965.

4. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 53, 1:27:11.397.

5. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW Sauber, 53, 1:27:15.242.

6. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 53, 1:27:16.310.

7. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren, 53, 1:27:17.406.

8. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 53, 1:27:19.542.

9. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, 53, 1:27:26.962.

10. Nelson Piquet Jr., Brazil, Renault, 53, 1:27:41.939.

11. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota, 53, 1:27:46.382.

12. Kazuki Nakajima, Japan, Williams, 53, 1:27:49.509.

13. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 53, 1:27:53.448.

14. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 53, 1:27:56.129.

15. Jenson Button, Britain, Honda, 53, 1:28:00.864.

16. David Coulthard, Britain, Red Bull, 1 lap behind.

17. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Honda, 1 lap.

18. Sebastien Bourdais, France, Toro Rosso, 1 lap.

19. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 2 laps.

Not Classified

Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Force India, 11 laps.

Drivers’ Standings

(After 14 of 18 races)

1. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren, 78 points.

2. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 77.

3. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW Sauber, 64.

4. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, 57.

5. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW Sauber, 53.

6. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, McLaren, 51.

7. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 28.

8. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 26.

9. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Toro Rosso, 23.

10. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 20.

Constructors’ Standings

1. Ferrari, 134 points.

2. McLaren, 129.

3. BMW Sauber, 117.

4. Toyota, 41.

(tie) Renault, 41.

6. Toro Rosso, 27.

7. Red Bull, 26.

8. Williams, 17.

9. Honda, 14.