Toro Rosso’s superstar Sebastian Vettel takes his maiden victory with a commanding drive in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
At 21 years and 74 days he beats the previous record holder of 22 years and 26 days set by double world champion Fernando Alonso in the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Vettel also scored the first victory for Scuderia Toro Rosso, the team formed by Red Bull back in 2006. The Red Bull Racing squad have yet to win a race but for the Toro Rosso former team as Minardi, this was the best result for the Italian-based organisation after two decades in the sport.
Vettel is also the first German driver to win a Grand Prix since the seven times world champion Michael Schumacher retired. And afterwards Vettel said: “This is the best day of my life.”
The 21-year-old German is now the 101st driver to win a Grand Prix, and joins Robert Kubica (99) and Heikki Kovalainen (100) as this season’s maiden winners. Appropriately, Kovalainen finished second and Kubica was third, so the newest winners filled the podium.
Vettel led from the rolling start to the chequered flag with ease making no mistakes in the wet conditions. He was comfortably the fastest thanks to his dry weather set-up with low downforce, making his Toro Rosso car the quickest down the famous Monza straights. He finished 12 seconds clear of the McLaren of Kovalainen – who was struggling with his brakes due to the low temperatures – and 20 seconds in front of Kubica in the BMW Sauber.
Renault’s Fernando Alonso benefited from the switch to the intermediates in the semi-wet conditions during his final pit stop to take fourth ahead of Nick Heidfeld. The German couldn’t match his BMW Sauber’s team-mate pace but did well to hold off Felipe Massa in the closing stages of the Grand Prix.
Massa was unable to gain an advantage on his title rival Lewis Hamilton despite starting several positions in front. A sixth place finish was the best the Brazilian could achieve in a difficult race for Ferrari. It also didn’t help that Massa spent much of the first stint trapped behind Nico Rosberg’s Williams and then stuck behind yet more traffic after making his first pit stop.
At least Massa reduced Hamilton’s world championship lead to a single point, as Formula One heads off to the Far East for the Singapore Grand Prix in two weeks time. Lewis Hamilton did his best to recover from his low grid position (P15, by far the worst in his Formula One career) but seventh was the end result. Despite this, Lewis put on a show with some spectacular overtaking moves on the likes of Giancarlo Fisischella, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber as he charge through the field hoping to score some much needed world championship points.
Mark Webber claimed the final point finish for Red Bull Racing with eighth, while Kimi Raikkonen – who was barely featured in the race – finished in a disappointing ninth. The only consolidation for the Finn was setting the fastest laps as the track dried out but it was too little too late for the former world champion.
Nelson Piquet in the Renault rounded out the top ten finishes at Monza. Remarkably, there was only one retirement from the Italian Grand Prix. Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India) crashed at the Parabolica corner after damaging his front wing on the back of David Coulthard’s Red Bull. The broken wing then folded under his car and the Italian was sent off the road and into the tyre barriers. Fisichella was unharmed in the incident.
So a fantastic drive from Sebastian Vettel, though you must feel sorry for Sebastien Bourdais in the sister car. The Frenchman qualified in his best ever grid slot with fourth but as the Safety Car led the pack into the first corner, Bourdais was left behind after stalling his Toro Rosso… He got going again once the mechanics fixed the problem but by then he was a lap down. Bourdais finished the race in a frustrating eighteenth.
The Singapore Grand Prix is the next round of this year’s dramatic Formula One World Championship and the event will become extra special, as it will be the first in the history of the sport to be staged at night. Like Valencia, the teams and drivers have no knowledge on the new street circuit so expect something exciting come late September when Formula One arrives on scene.
Race results from Monza – 53 laps:
1. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1h26:47.000
2. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes +12.512
3. Kubica BMW Sauber +20.471
4. Alonso Renault +23.903
5. Heidfeld BMW Sauber +27.748
6. Massa Ferrari +28.816
7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +29.012
8. Webber Red Bull-Renault +32.048
9. Raikkonen Ferrari +39.468
10. Piquet Renault +54.445
11. Glock Toyota +58.888
12. Nakajima Williams-Toyota +1:02.015
13. Trulli Toyota +1:05.954
14. Rosberg Williams-Toyota +1:08.635
15. Button Honda +1:13.370
16. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault +1 lap
17. Barrichello Honda +1 lap
18. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
19. Sutil Force India-Ferrari +2 laps
Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:28.047
Not classified/retirements:
Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 12 laps
World Championship standings, round 14:
Drivers:
1. Hamilton 78
2. Massa 77
3. Kubica 64
4. Raikkonen 57
5. Heidfeld 53
6. Kovalainen 51
7. Alonso 28
8. Trulli 26
9. Vettel 23
10. Webber 20
11. Glock 15
12. Piquet 13
13. Barrichello 11
14. Rosberg 9
15. Nakajima 8
16. Coulthard 6
17. Bourdais 4
18. Button 3
Constructors:
1. Ferrari 134
2. McLaren-Mercedes 129
3. BMW Sauber 117
4. Renault 41
5. Toyota 41
6. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 27
7. Red Bull-Renault 26
8. Williams-Toyota 17
9. Honda 14
Next race: Singapore Grand Prix, Singapore, September 26-28
It was a cracking race, the ending anthems felt like Shuie back on the podium again, was strange. I don’t think i’ve seen monza this wet before. Raiki signs a new deal to stay with Ferrari till 2010 and he’s playing a supporting role to massa this year how funky. Hamilton really needs to get a move on, otherwise I have a feeling its going to be like last year all over again.