Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe
Autosport Plus

Vettel comes of age

In one of the most extraordinary grands prix in the history of the sport, Sebastien Vettel took a car with no winning pedigree and utterly dominated the Italian Grand Prix. Adam Cooper analyses how the 21-year-old fresh-faced German gave the team formerly-known as Minardi a maiden victory on home soil after 23 years of trying

It's still hard to fully comprehend, isn't it? And yet it really did happen at Monza last weekend. The team we used to know as Minardi won a race, with a car driven by a guy who only turned 21 in July, and who has just over a season of Formula One racing behind him. His first win, and the team's, was also their first podium finish.

But this wasn't some fluke, someone benefiting from the top guys blowing up or spinning off, or a unique strategy gamble that happened to pay-off. Yes, it rained in qualifying, and it rained for the race. But Sebastian Vettel and Scuderia Toro Rosso simply did a better job than anyone else in the difficult circumstances, and won from the front in crushing style.

Previous article Franchitti to enter Petit Le Mans
Next article A Distinct Possibility

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe