2008 Italian Grand Prix

The 2008 Italian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander D'Italia 2008 ) [ 1 ] was a Formula One motor race held on 14 September 2008 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza , Monza , Italy. It was the 14th race of the 2008 Formula One World Championship . 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 BM...

Our disappointment was big, when the stewards took away victory from him [Hamilton] and the team. However, we are fighters. If we would have needed a better motivation for the last five races of the season we have it now. When we went to the airport last Sunday evening, Lewis said to me - preferably we now want to win all remaining races, don't we? I have no objection. [ 6 ]

Following the rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix, Massa expressed his hope that the Italian Grand Prix would be held on a dry track, saying "it would be nice not to have the rain here and not have any opportunity to have a consistent race." [ 7 ] The close nature of the Championship meant that Ferrari's home race had the potential to be a turning point in the season. [ 8 ] Testing at the Monza circuit in early September had indicated that the performance gap between McLaren and Ferrari had narrowed....

It was a joint decision to go out on wet-weather tyres at the start of [the second session] - partly mine and partly my engineers'. We thought it was the right way to go at the time because it was getting dryer but the grip-level was poor so I came in and switched to extremes ... It's the first time this has happened to me in Formula 1, so I can't really complain.

Vettel became the youngest driver in the history of Formula One to take pole position , with a time of 1:37.555 in very wet conditions. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Kovalainen. Mark Webber qualified third after his final lap pushed Sébastien Bourdais into fourth position. Massa took sixth position behind Rosberg. Trulli, Fernando Alonso , Glock and Heidfeld rounded out the top ten. [ 17 ] Kubica qualified 11th, blaming late rain in the second qualifying session for...

The safety car pulled into the pit-lane at the end of the second lap. Vettel retained his lead into the first corner, followed by Kovalainen, Webber, Rosberg and Massa. Kubica passed Heidfeld at the first chicane; [ 26 ] Glock passed Alonso later in the lap. [ 27 ] Vettel immediately opened a lead of two seconds over Kovalainen; the McLaren driver experienced visibility problems as a result of the spray off the back of the Toro Rosso. [ 27 ] [ 28 ] Alonso regained seventh from Glock when he pass...

Vettel continued to open his lead on Kovalainen; by lap eight it stood at 6.3 seconds. [ 27 ] Both Räikkönen and Hamilton passed Fisichella in separate manoeuvres over the next two laps. Hamilton took 11th position from Räikkönen on lap 11, outbraking the Ferrari at turn four. [ 22 ] [ 27 ] Fisichella collided with Coulthard two laps later. As a result of the contact, the Force India's front wing broke loose and lodged under the car. Consequently, Fisichella lost control at turn nine, spinning i...

Vettel pitted from first position on lap 18. Kovalainen, Webber and Massa pitted four laps later. [ 31 ] Light rain began to fall on lap 26, though only lasted five minutes. [ 22 ] Glock, Trulli, Räikkönen and Hamilton completed their first pit stops over the following laps. [ 31 ] Coulthard was the first driver to try intermediate wet-weather tyres when he pitted on lap 28. [ 31 ] He lost grip in the wet and went straight through the first chicane. [ 22 ] Alonso, Heidfeld, Kubica and Piquet too...

Hamilton began lapping fastest, recording a 1:32.869 on lap 38, more than a second faster than first-placed Vettel. [ 27 ] Lap 45 saw three drivers set consecutive new fastest laps ; Kubica's 1:32.366 was beaten by Webber with a 1:32.014s. They were then superseded by Räikkönen, who set a 1:31.691. [ 27 ] On lap 49 Webber attempted to pass Hamilton at the first chicane, but the two cars touched wheels. [ 22 ] Webber was forced down the escape road, and when he emerged in front of Hamilton, he re...

The top three finishers appeared on the podium and in the subsequent press conference . Vettel acknowledged the support of his team, saying the set-up of the car perfectly suited the way the race developed. [ 36 ] Other drivers congratulated Vettel; Hamilton said that "with all that pressure it is easier to make mistakes, and he obviously didn't, so congratulations to him. He did a good job." [ 37 ] The Grand Prix also marked the first win by Toro Rosso, the first non-Ferrari Italian-based team ...

Kovalainen expressed his disappointment in finishing second, saying:

Clearly not possible to win today. Sebastian and Toro Rosso have been strong all weekend. I had a little bit of a problem earlier on in the race, in the first couple of stints, especially with the extreme wet tyre and some problems also to warm up my brakes, so I was just struggling to find more time and trying to go faster. We kept pushing and towards the end it got a little bit better but I think it was the maximum we could do today. We picked up some good points and we can look forward to the...

Third-placed Kubica said that his strategy allowed him to capitalise on the changing track conditions, as his only stop seemed the best time to change to intermediate tyres. [ 36 ] The Polish driver said that racing in Italy was particularly special for him, having lived in the country for five years: "That is why we divided the helmet into two pieces. One was Italian colours, one was Polish colours." [ 36 ] Alonso, who used a similar strategy, said "the result today is very good because Monza w...

45°36′56″N 9°16′52″E  /  45.61556°N 9.28111°E  / 45.61556; 9.28111