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On this day in 2008, Sebastian Vettel won his first Grand Prix.
Driving for Toro Rosso, which just three years earlier was the popular but unsuccessful Minardi team, Vettel had clinched a shock pole position in the rain the day before, beating Heikki Kovalainen and future team mate Mark Webber and becoming the youngest pole sitter in history in the process.
Heavy rain on race day meant that the race was started behind the safety car. When the race got underway fro real, Vettel wasn't challenged out in front, eventually winning by 12.5 seconds over Kovalainen. One stop strategies saw Robert Kubica and Fernando Alonso move up the field to take third and fourth respectively, while Nick Heidfeld completed the top five.
By finishing one place ahead of Lewis Hamilton in sixth place, Felipe Massa was able to narrow the Brit's championship lead with just four races remaining, but Kovalainen's second place finish along with his compatriot Kimi Raikkonen's non-score allowed McLaren to close the gap to Ferrari in the constructors' championship.
At 21 years and 73 days old, Sebastian Vettel became the youngest Grand Prix winner, a record that stood until this year when fellow Red Bull Junior Team alumni Max Verstappen won in Spain aged just 18 years and 228 days old. However, he remains the youngest driver to claim pole position.
A year later he would become the youngest driver to finish runner-up in the championship and two years later he would go on to become the sport's youngest world champion, his first triumph in a run that would see him win four titles.
#OnThisDay, #ItalianGP 2008: Sebastian #Vettel won his first GP, at the wheel of our STR3 in Monza! #SING200 ❤️???? pic.twitter.com/07KIiYJdsK
— Toro Rosso (@ToroRossoSpy) September 14, 2016
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G. Zhou
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