Toro Rosso and Vettel celebrating first ever pole
Sebastian Vettel is the youngest ever F1 pole sitter at his 22nd attempt. During a qualifying session in extreme conditions at the Italian Monza track, Vettel collected his, and the teams', first ever pole position. The team kept celebrating as team mate Sebastian Bourdais finished 4th.
Sebastian Vettel: "It will take time for this to sink in. It was my dream to one day drive a Formula 1 car and even if my target now has been to fight for poles and race wins, I didn't expect it today and it feels fantastic. Doing it here in Italy is also amazing. There are two Italian teams, Ferrari is the bigger one, but I think today, people will also know about Scuderia Toro Rosso. Already it's great just to be part of Formula 1, but to be sitting in the top spot is fantastic. It was very difficult to see anything out there and I think all the drivers did a good job to avoid any incidents. We improved the car a lot and I was very happy with it this morning and when you feel confident in your car, then that is the key. In the second session, conditions were very difficult and I managed to put together a good lap quite early. I think we did the right thing to go out and do a few laps, rather than just focus on trying for one quick one."
Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.36.129, pos. 2th, 11 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.37.555, pos. 1st
Sébastien Bourdais: "It was a bit crazy out there. Seb pulled out a great lap and pole is fantastic for him and the team and so is having both cars on the two front rows. I was third for a moment, but I'm not complaining. Given how things went in the dry in practice, I certainly could not have hoped for better than this. These conditions equalize everything and if you have a good feeling in the car, you can attack. That's what we did and it paid off. The team has given us a car that is very reliable and quite easy to drive, especially in the wet. A super performance from everyone."
Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.43.456, pos. 17th, 8 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.38.445 Pos. 4th
Giorgio Ascanelli: "I thought we would be third, but with Hamilton and Raikkonen out, this is the result. Of course, it's obvious we haven't got the heaviest fuel load in the world and so now we must hope for a competitive race for tomorrow. Both drivers did a good job as did the whole team and we can be happy with our day's work."
Gerhard Berger: "A fantastic result and particularly special here at Monza."