Red Bull Motorsports
F1
How Sebastian Vettel sealed a famous maiden victory for Scuderia Toro Rosso
How Sebastian Vettel took his maiden Monza win way back in 2008.
Vettel's maiden win
© Clive Mason/Getty Images
On September 14, 2008, a 21-year-old German driver who'd taken just 19 points in his brief F1 career lined up in a shock pole position for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso in the team's home race, he did the unthinkable and won.
Dominating the race from pole position, Sebastian Vettel finished 12 seconds clear of the field and became the youngest driver ever to win a grand prix.
Berger oversaw Vettel's 2008 victory
© GEPA Pictures/Mathias Kniepeiss
Sebastian Vettel and Franz Tost - Brazil 2008
© GEPA Pictures/Franz Pammer
Laurent Mekies with Seb Vettel - Toro Rosso 2008
© GEPA Pictures/ Mathias Kniepeiss
2008: Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel wins his first F1 race at Monza
© Clive Mason/Getty Images
It was also a sweet moment for his team. Rebranded as Scuderia Toro Rosso (literally 'Red Bull team' in Italian) at the end of 2005, the team had operated as Minardi since 1985 before Red Bull CEO Dietrich Mateschitz and Gerhard Berger stepped in to buy it. In 2006, the team had scored just a single point all season, thanks to Vitantonio Liuzzi's eighth place after starting 21st in the US GP. In 2007, it was eight points.
Riccardo Adami - Scuderia Toro Rosso Team 2008
© GEPA Pictures/ Mathias Kniepeiss
So it was a stunned F1 paddock – no less the team themselves as anyone else – when Vettel nailed a maiden pole position on Saturday at Monza by 7/100ths of a second in treacherous rain, and then took the chequered flag in Sunday's wet-then-dry race well ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.
Vettel would go on to help the team score 39 points in 2008 before moving to Red Bull Racing. And the rest, as they say, is history.
