2008 Italian Grand Prix

2008 Italian Grand Prix
Previous←	2008 Belgian Grand Prix
Round	14 of 2008
Next→	2008 Singapore Grand Prix
Race Details
Date	14 September, 2008
Race Number	799
Official Name	LXXIX Gran Premio Santander d'Italia
Location	Autodromo Nazionale Monza Monza, Italy
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.793 km (3.600 mi)
Distance	53 laps, 307.029 km (190.779 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari
Time	1:37.555
Fastest Lap
Driver	Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
Time	1:28.047 on lap 53
Podium
First	Sebastian Vettel
Second	Heikki Kovalainen
Third	Robert Kubica
Lap Leaders

The 2008 Italian Grand Prix, officially the LXXIX Gran Premio Santander d'Italia, was the fourteenth race of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship, which took place at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy, on 14 September 2008. The race would see Sebastian Vettel secure his maiden F1 pole position and race victory, becoming the youngest ever race winner aged 21 years, 73 days.

Indeed, in a weekend dictated by poor weather conditions, Vettel would emerge as a future star of the Championship, having secured pole in his Toro Rosso-Ferrari during qualifying. Heikki Kovalainen claimed second ahead of Mark Webber in the Red Bull-Renault, while the sister Toro Rosso of Sébastien Bourdais would start from fourth. Of the title protagonists Felipe Massa was the best placed in sixth, as Lewis Hamilton slumped to fifteenth.

The weather remained poor into raceday, resulting in the race starting behind the Safety Car with the entire field made to start on extreme wet Bridgestone tyres. Yet, after just one sighting lap the field would be released, with Vettel leading a cautious charge into the Rettifilo, as teammate Bourdais stalled from fourth at the original start.

Vettel escaped up the road from Kovalainen during the early laps, with the field largely running in grid order as spray became a major concern. Indeed, the only real battle in the field came between the out-of-place Kimi Räikkönen and Hamilton as they came through the midfield, with both passing David Coulthard at the same time.

Hamilton went on to attack Räikkönen, but after overshooting the Rettifilo and handing the position back to the Finn, opted to remain behind him. They continued to climb into the top ten before Hamilton finally made a move stick on Räikkönen, before breaking clear of the Finn with a succession of moves on Nick Heidfeld, Timo Glock, Robert Kubica and Fernando Alonso.

Vettel was the first driver to pit on lap eighteen, although he would have a fair advantage over Kovalainen in second and hence remained ahead when the rest of the leaders stopped four laps later. Shortly after the stops, with everyone staying on wet tyres, the rain would return, although after a five minute spell, in which Coulthard would gamble on inters and duly slid straight across the Rettifilo, it stopped and the circuit began to dry.

A few laps later and there was an en-masse switch to inters, sparked by those on a one-stop, notably including Alonso, successfully making the semi-slick tyres work. Vettel retained the lead with the field fairly spread out, although Hamilton emerged as the fastest driver in the running, lapping a full second quicker than the German youth as he reeled in Webber.

Otherwise the final stint proved fairly tame, with Vettel skating through the closing stages to secure his and Toro Rosso's maiden victory, which was also notable as the first for a Ferrari engine outside of a Ferrari chassis. It was also the first for an Italian based team other than Ferrari since Maserati won the 1957 German Grand Prix.

Behind Vettel came Kovalainen and Robert Kubica, while Hamilton finished in seventh behind title rival Massa, leaving them just a point apart with four races to go.

Background

The controversial conclusion to the Belgian Grand Prix saw Felipe Massa move right onto the back of the Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, leaving Spa just two off the lead. Indeed, Hamilton had moved onto 76 points to the Brazilian's 74, with the pair effectively the two main protagonists for the crown. Behind, Robert Kubica had remained mathematically in the hunt as he climbed to third ahead of Kimi Räikkönen, while Nick Heidfeld had moved back ahead of Heikki Kovalainen.

In the Constructors Championship Ferrari had managed to extend their lead as a result of the post-Spa fallout, leaving the Belgian circuit with a twelve point advantage. Indeed, McLaren-Mercedes had lost ground as a result of Hamilton's demotion, leaving Spa on 119 points, and just twelve ahead of BMW Sauber in third. Indeed, those three were the only teams capable of taking the Constructors crown, with Toyota 90 points behind Ferrari with five races to go.

Entry list

The full entry list for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix is outlined below:

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
1	Kimi Räikkönen	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F2008	Ferrari	056 2008 2.4 V8	B
2	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F2008	Ferrari	056 2008 2.4 V8	B
3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.08	BMW	P86/8 2.4 V8	B
4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.08	BMW	P86/8 2.4 V8	B
5	Fernando Alonso	ING Renault F1 Team	Renault	R28	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
6	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	ING Renault F1 Team	Renault	R28	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
7	Nico Rosberg	AT&T Williams	Williams	FW30	Toyota	RVX-08 2.4 V8	B
8	Kazuki Nakajima	AT&T Williams	Williams	FW30	Toyota	RVX-08 2.4 V8	B
9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB4	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB4	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
11	Jarno Trulli	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF108	Toyota	RVX-08 2.4 V8	B
12	Timo Glock	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF108	Toyota	RVX-08 2.4 V8	B
14	Sébastien Bourdais	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR3	Ferrari	056 2007 2.4 V8	B
15	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR3	Ferrari	056 2007 2.4 V8	B
16	Jenson Button	Honda Racing F1 Team	Honda	RA108	Honda	RA808E 2.4 V8	B
17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda Racing F1 Team	Honda	RA108	Honda	RA808E 2.4 V8	B
20	Adrian Sutil	Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM01	Ferrari	056 2007 2.4 V8	B
21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM01	Ferrari	056 2007 2.4 V8	B
22	Lewis Hamilton	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-23	Mercedes	FO 108V 2.4 V8	B
23	Heikki Kovalainen	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-23	Mercedes	FO 108V 2.4 V8	B
Source:

Qualifying

Qualifying Results

The full qualifying results for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3		Grid
					Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time
1	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso-Ferrari		3	1:35.464		1	1:35.837		1	1:37.555	1
2	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes		1	1:35.214		2	1:35.843		2	1:37.631	2
3	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault		12	1:36.001		6	1:36.306		3	1:38.117	3
4	14	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari		6	1:35.543		5	1:36.175		4	1:38.445	4
5	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota		4	1:35.485		3	1:35.898		5	1:38.767	5
6	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari		5	1:35.536		10	1:36.676		6	1:38.894	6
7	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota		10	1:35.906		4	1:36.008		7	1:39.152	7
8	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault		14	1:36.297		7	1:36.518		8	1:39.751	8
9	12	Timo Glock	Toyota		9	1:35.737		8	1:36.525		9	1:39.787	9
10	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber		8	1:35.709		9	1:36.626		10	1:39.906	10
11	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber		7	1:35.553		11	1:36.697				11
12	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari		13	1:36.280		12	1:36.698				12
13	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault		15	1:36.485		13	1:37.284				13
14	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari		11	1:35.965		14	1:37.522				14
15	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes		2	1:35.394		15	1:39.265				15
16	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda		16	1:36.510							16
17	6	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	Renault		17	1:36.630							17
18	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota		18	1:36.653							18
19	16	Jenson Button	Honda		19	1:37.006							19
20	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari		20	1:37.417							20
Source:

• ^T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
• Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.

Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
	______________
Row 1	1	______________
	Sebastian Vettel	2
	______________	Heikki Kovalainen
Row 2	3	______________
	Mark Webber	4
	______________	Sébastien Bourdais*
Row 3	5	______________
	Nico Rosberg	6
	______________	Felipe Massa
Row 4	7	______________
	Jarno Trulli	8
	______________	Fernando Alonso
Row 5	9	______________
	Timo Glock	10
	______________	Nick Heidfeld
Row 6	11	______________
	Robert Kubica	12
	______________	Giancarlo Fisichella
Row 7	13	______________
	David Coulthard	14
	______________	Kimi Räikkönen
Row 8	15	______________
	Lewis Hamilton	16
	______________	Rubens Barrichello
Row 9	17	______________
	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	18
	______________	Kazuki Nakajima*
Row 10	19	______________
	Jenson Button*	20
	______________	Adrian Sutil

• * Bourdais, Nakajima and Button started the race from the pitlane.

Race

Results

The full results for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	53	1:26:47.494	1	10
2	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+12.512s	2	8
3	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	53	+20.471s	11	6
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	53	+23.903s	8	5
5	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	53	+27.748s	10	4
6	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	53	+28.816s	6	3
7	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+29.912s	15	2
8	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	53	+32.048s	3	1
9	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+39.468s	14
10	6	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	Renault	53	+54.445s	17
11	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	53	+58.888s	9
12	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	53	+1:02.015	18
13	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	53	+1:05.954	7
14	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	53	+1:08.635	5
15	16	Jenson Button	Honda	53	+1:13.370	19
16	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	52	+1 Lap	13
17	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	52	+1 Lap	16
18	14	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	52	+1 Lap	4
19	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	51	+2 Laps	20
Ret	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	11	Accident	12
Source:

• ^T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.

Milestones

• Maiden pole position for Sebastian Vettel.
  • Vettel set a new record for youngest ever pole sitter at 21 years, 72 days.
• Toro Rosso scored their first and only pole position as a constructor.
• Vettel secured his maiden victory.
  • The German youth became the youngest ever race winner aged 21 years, 73 days.
  • Also Vettel's maiden podium finish.
• Toro Rosso secured their first race victory. Their next win wouldn't come until the 2020 Italian Grand Prix.
  • Toro Rosso became the first Italian team other than Ferrari to win a Grand Prix since Maserati won the 1957 German Grand Prix.
  • Maiden podium for Toro Rosso as a constructor.
• 209th win for Ferrari as an engine supplier.
  • This was the first win for a Ferrari engine outside of a Ferrari chassis.
• Fourth and final podium finish for Heikki Kovalainen.

Standings

The battle atop the Championship had intensified once again as a result of the Italian Grand Prix, with just a point separating the top two in the Championship with four rounds to go. Lewis Hamilton had just held onto the lead after his recovery drive to seventh in the race, although Felipe Massa would leave Monza just a point off the Brit in second. Behind, Robert Kubica had moved fourteen points off the lead as the dark horse for the title ahead of Kimi Räikkönen, while Nick Heidfeld had retained fifth.

In the Constructors Championship Ferrari left their home race with their lead having been cut in two, holding a five point advantage after they moved their tally to 134 points. Their closest challengers were McLaren-Mercedes, who moved onto 129 points after Heikki Kovalainen scored a podium finish, while BMW Sauber had also gained ground in third. Next up were Toyota, remaining ahead of Renault on countback, while Toro Rosso-Ferrari were up to sixth after their maiden triumph on home soil.

World Championship for Drivers Pos. Driver Pts. +/- 1 Lewis Hamilton 78 — 2 Felipe Massa 77 — 3 Robert Kubica 64 — 4 Kimi Räikkönen 57 — 5 Nick Heidfeld 53 — 6 Heikki Kovalainen 51 — 7 Fernando Alonso 28 ▲1 8 Jarno Trulli 26 ▼1 9 Sebastian Vettel 23 ▲3 10 Mark Webber 20 ▼1 11 Timo Glock 15 ▼1 12 Nelson Piquet, Jr. 13 ▼1 13 Rubens Barrichello 11 — 14 Nico Rosberg 9 — 15 Kazuki Nakajima 8 — 16 David Coulthard 6 — 17 Sébastien Bourdais 4 — 18 Jenson Button 3 —

World Championship for Constructors Pos. Team Pts. +/- 1 Ferrari 134 — 2 McLaren-Mercedes 129 — 3 BMW Sauber 117 — 4 Toyota 41 — 5 Renault 41 — 6 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 27 ▲2 7 Red Bull-Renault 26 ▼1 8 Williams-Toyota 17 ▼1 9 Honda 14 —

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References

Images and Videos:

References:

v·d·e

Nominate this page for Featured Article