First at Monza

Sebastian Vettel, 21 years old only and a Toro Rosso driver, celebrates, after a fantastic drive in the rain, the first victory of his Formula One career, on the podium of the 2008 Italian Grand Prix held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.

It was the 14th race of the 2008 Formula One season and future four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel for the Toro Rosso team, took a maiden victory, winning the 53-lap race from a maiden pole position. Heikki Kovalainen finished second in a McLaren and Robert Kubica third in a Sauber-BMW.

Vettel’s victory made him the youngest driver to win a Formula One race, at 21 years 73 days in addition to giving Toro Rosso (which was formerly the Minardi team) its maiden Formula One win, and also became the first German driver to win a race since Michael Schumacher at the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix.

This race marked Toro Rosso’s first and only victory until the 2020 Italian Grand Prix when Pierre Gasly won for the renamed Scuderia AlphaTauri. Picture-below: Sebastian Vettel masters his Toro Rosso STR03 in the Monza rain and scores the first of his 53 Grand Prix wins.