When Sebastian Vettel hangs up his helmet and retires from Formula 1 at the end of the year, few circuits will hold fonder memories for him than Monza.
Vettel’s farewell to the Tifosi, the adoring fans who once heralded him as their star, and still keep him close to their hearts, was the only highlight from what proved to be a fairly miserable final Italian Grand Prix on-track for the four-time world champion last weekend.
“The fans were great, which was nice, so we’ll take that,” said Vettel, having retired just 10 laps into the race. “Coming into the track was definitely nice, but obviously the driving wasn’t a highlight.”
But it was not in Ferrari colours where Vettel enjoyed his greatest high at Monza. On this day (14 September) in 2008, he stunned the paddock and staked his claim as a future star by scoring his first grand prix victory for Toro Rosso in heavy rain, going down as one of F1’s great underdog victories.
The combination of the low-drag aero efficient Toro Rosso STR3 and the might of its Ferrari engine meant Monza was always likely to be a good race for Vettel, who had been picking up regular points since the 2008 chassis was introduced five races into the season.
Vettel propelled former Minardi team Toro Rosso to its first F1 win
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
But wet qualifying at Monza meant Vettel had a real chance to cause an upset. A set-up change ahead of final practice gave the 21-year-old a confidence he’d lacked through Friday, before the changeable conditions then played into his hands – and against others. Lewis Hamilton’s gamble on intermediates caused him to drop out in Q2, meaning he would start 15th just behind Kimi Raikkonen. Felipe Massa could only muster sixth in the sister Ferrari, leaving Hamilton’s team-mate, Heikki Kovalainen, as the only driver from a front-running team to try and beat Vettel. The Finn fell eight-hundredths of a second short, owing in part to a more heavily-fuelled car, leaving Vettel to delight in becoming F1’s youngest polesitter.
“I was joking with my engineers, we were saying if it is wet, then we have to go for pole position,” said Vettel. “It’s unbelievable. The conditions were so difficult today, a lot of water. You never knew how much water to expect.
“I never dreamt of being on pole. Unbelievable. This is our home grand prix. There are two Italian teams. The bigger one is Scuderia Ferrari but I think now the people know the small…
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