2008 Italian Grand Prix

2008 Italian Grand Prix
Race 14 of 18 in the 2008 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Race details
Date	14 September 2008
Official name	Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander D'Italia 2008
Location	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.793 km (3.6 miles)
Distance	53 laps, 306.720 km (190.58 miles)
Weather	Heavy rain, dry towards the end
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	Toro Rosso-Ferrari
Second	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes
Third	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber
Lap leaders

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 BMW Sauber.

Vettel began the race, started under the safety car, ahead of Kovalainen in second. Red Bull's Mark Webber started from third. Rain early in the race allowed Vettel to establish a solid lead over Kovalainen, which he extended as the track dried. Kubica and Fernando Alonso finished in the top four after starting from 11th and eighth, respectively. McLaren driver and Drivers' Championship leader Lewis Hamilton was able to move through the field after qualifying in 15th, finishing in seventh, one place behind rival Felipe Massa, of Ferrari.

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 Minardi team) its maiden Formula One win despite using a 2007-spec engine, and also became the first German driver to win a race since Michael Schumacher at the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix. Vettel's record was broken by Max Verstappen aged 18 years and 228 days at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. Massa scored one point more than Hamilton, narrowing the McLaren driver's lead in the Championship once more with four races remaining. However, Kovalainen's second-placed finish put McLaren closer to catching Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship.

This race marked Toro Rosso's first and only podium until the 2019 German Grand Prix as well as first and only victory until the 2020 Italian Grand Prix when Pierre Gasly won in the pseudo-successor Scuderia AlphaTauri team. This was also Kovalainen's last podium in Formula One.