Vettel writes history as he wins at Monza

F1 Grand Prix, GP Italy, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza

Sebastian Vettel has dominantly won the Italian GP at a wet Monza. Thanks to the weather, he writes history by being the youngest winner ever of a Grand Prix, after already marking the youngest pole yesterday. Heikki Kovalainen is second while Robert Kubica is third.

The start will be given from behind the safety car as the track is still very wet and the rain continues to fall down. All drivers are on the extreme wets. Additionally, instead of starting from 18th and 19th respectively, Nakajima and Button wil start from the pitlane.

The others are off for the warm-up lap, except for Bourdais who is apparently blocked. He is consequently pulled into the pitlane. Even when the actual race start is given behind the SC, Bourdais is still blocked but eventually gets launched.

At the same time, the safety car is announced to leave the track after the first lap. When the racing is on, Glock immediately gains a place to Alonso but loses it again one lap later.

Kimi Raikkonen meanwhile is blocked behind Fisichella, while Lewis Hamilton is just behind him in 13th place. Vettel on the other hand is dominant and pulls away steadily from second placed Kovalainen.

In lap 6, Raikkonen passes the Roman and Lewis follows one lap later. A further lap in the race, Hamilton easily passes Raikkonen in the second lesmo and looks considerably faster than the Ferrari driver.

Timo Glock then attempts to re-pass Alonso but loses control of his car and falls down to 9th place.

In lap 12, Massa passes Rosberg after a long running battle but takes the second chicane that all his four wheels are over the white line. Half a lap later he allows Rosberg to pass him again, only to regain that place one lap later.

As the track is slowly drying on the racing line, Hamilton is gaining places like a bullet. The is an incredible difference in pace between him and both BMW Sauber drivers. He also passed Glock but at that time violently pushed the German in the grass, a very dubious tactic. Later on, Hamilton passes Alonso and again quickly cuts Alonso's track. It is remarkable though how quickly Hamilton pulls away from the slower corners compared to his competitors. The is obviously something on the McLaren that allows to accellerate harder under slippery conditions.

Althouh rain has been predicted for anytime son, the drying conditions don't suit Alonso's Renault and as a result he is falling back. All drivers behind him are closing in and Glock easily makes the pass in lap 19.

In lap 23, a whole bunch of drivers are in the pits, handing back Vettel's lead after he pitted 7 laps earlier.

One lap later, Rosberg loses second place to Hamilton. The latter looks like being on a single stop strategy. Only two laps later the Briton is already under the rear wing of Vettel, making up 5 seconds in only 3 laps.

In lap 27, Raikkonen and Trulli are in the pits. Hamilton follows suit and is being fuelled to get to the end of the race. Vettel on the other hand is likely to still need another stop. While rain is still not falling, contrary to previsions, all drivers fit full wets.

When Alonso makes his first stop in lap 31, he fits intermediates. If it doesn't rain quickly, Alonso may well advance in the ranking. After all, he was losing places already compared to the other drivers runnings on extreme wets.

The intermediates quickly prove faster and Glock, Rosberg and Massa also change to intermediates. Although the Spaniard advances, Heidfeld is just behind him as he also changed to intermediates.

At the end of lap 38 and after all drivers switched tyres, Vettel is in the lead with an advantage of 9.5 seconds over Kovalainen. In third place is Kubica, followed by Alonso, Heidfeld and Massa. Hamilton is 7th while Raikkonen is still 14th.

The real battle is going on for 4th place, with just behind Alonso Heidfeld and Massa fighting for 5th. By lap 40, Hamilton is also behind them after a string of fastest laps. At the same time, Robert Kubica who is 3rd is only 4 seconds ahead of Alonso.

In lap 45, Räikkönen marks his presence in the race with a fastest lap, probably the only positive for yet another dismal weekend for the Fin.

5 laps to go and Hamilton again violently fends off a competitors. Mark Webber had quickly returned and attempted a pass upon the McLaren. It was however again Hamilton who moved so much to the left that Webber had no choice to move in the grass of bump wheels. He opted for the second but had to cut the chicane due to the collision.

More in the back, Coulthard and Nakajima collide, leaving quite some debris on the track. Both men were able to continue but Coulthard entered the pitlane for a new front wing.

Vettel then easily gets victory on a track that by this time is almost dry.