Sebastian Vettel wins 2008 Italian Grand Prix

September 14, 2008

Scuderia Toro Rosso–Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel won from the pole position the FIA Formula One 2008 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia race at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy.

The track was wet and the weather conditions were rainy during first half of the race, but in the second half the rain stopped and the track dried out. Rain is a rare event for the Formula One at Monza. The last wet race held in Monza was in 1956.

German driver Vettel controlled the race for the entire time and gave no opportunities for McLaren-Mercedes driver Heikki Kovalainen to overtake him.

Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) was the only driver to gain a substantial amount of places. He started in 11th but finished on the podium in third place.

The other Toro Rosso driver who started in fourth yesterday, Sébastien Bourdais, was not as successful as his German colleague, finishing in one of the last positions after his engine stalled at the start.

Fernando Alonso progressed from 8 to 4th place for Renault with the second BMW driver Nick Heidfeld finishing behind the Spaniard from the 10th place on the start.

Poor qualification results of Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen as well as the first McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton only partially were compensated by their high race pace. Three championship leaders finished 6th, 9th and 7th. Kimi was split from them by Mark Webber from Red Bull-Renault, who closed the top eight and with whom Kimi struggled on the dying laps of the race.

Lewis Hamilton still leads the Drivers' standings only one point ahead of Felipe Massa and 14 ahead Robert Kubica. Constructors' championship is currently owned by Ferrari 5 points ahead of McLaren and 17 ahead of BMW.