Vettel storms to victory at the Italian Grand Prix

It was in 2008 when Sebastian Vettel came to everyone’s attention by winning his first ever Grand Prix for Toro Rosso. Three years to the day, and the young German has achieved his second Monza victory – giving Red Bull their first ever Italian Grand Prix win.
     Despite losing the lead in the opening stages of the race to Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who made a flying start from fourth on the grid, Vettel comfortably brought his Red Bull home ahead of McLaren driver Jenson Button and Spaniard Alonso.
     A chaotic start to the race saw HRT driver Tonio Luizzi slide sideways from the start-finish straight, heading directly for the first chicane and straight into the path of several drivers. The incident meant the safety car was brought out whilst marshals cleared the track of debris from the victims of the crash. These included Renault’s Vitaly Petrov, Jerome D’Ambrosio and Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg – who looked set to do well in the race with this choice of tyre strategy.
     A messy restart for Hamilton saw seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher take third from the McLaren driver – a battle that was set to continue for countless laps to come.
     Meanwhile, out in front, Vettel retook the lead from Fernando Alonso in a spectacular passing move through Lesmos.
     Red Bull’s luck however, wasn’t helping Mark Webber’s weekend. A move on Felipe Massa into the first corner saw the Ferrari driver in a spin and the front wing jammed underneath. Despite attempts to return to the pits, Webber lost steering and was headed for the barriers and eventual retirement from the race.
     The fight between Hamilton and Schumacher for third was heating up, and despite numerous attempts to pass the German, Lewis could not make the move stick on the much more experienced driver. The battle, however, was not over yet as McLaren team mate Jenson Button was about to join in the action. With Hamilton getting ever frustrated in his trademark yellow helmet, but not making any daring moves, Schumacher continued to defend his track position – despite messages from team principle Ross Brawn reminding him to give room on the circuit. The young Brit, however, was pushed wide whilst making a move, allowing team mate Button to take fourth place.
     Becoming re-known for his simply brilliant and sometimes breathtaking manoeuvres, Button then overtook the seven time champion in dramatic style, giving him third place in the race.
     One of the main disappointments during the race was that the Sauber team, whose drivers were running well in terms of grid position and strategy, had to retire both Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi due to transmission failure.
     Toro Rosso driver Jaime Algeursuari, who was disappointed at being knocked out in the early stages of qualifying on Saturday, was running extremely well and battling in the race for point scoring positions. Whilst Force India’s Paul Di Resta made his scheduled stop and initially rejoined ahead of Alguersuari, the Spanish driver made a brilliant overtaking manoeuvre under the power of his DRS into the first chicane.
      With Vettel still in the lead, it was the fight between for second between Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso that was starting to become exciting. With the Ferrari driver struggling for grip on his somewhat wearying tyres, it was Button who swept past Alonso to take second place.
     Another driver that was making good progress was Renault’s newest recruit Bruno Senna. In his second race with the Renault team after replacing Nick Heidfeld for the rest of the season, the Brazilian was battling for position that would give him his first championship points. A dramatic move on Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Buemi in the closing stages allowed him to reach the top ten drivers.
      But there was nothing that was going to stop the young German, taking his 8^th win of the season; Sebastian Vettel won the Italian Grand Prix, followed by McLaren’s Jenson Button and 3^rd place man Fernando Alonso. 4^th place went to Lewis Hamilton, who had recovered well after his duel with Schumacher – who gave Mercedes a strong points finish in fifth. Both the Toro Rosso’s had a good race, with both of their drivers in the top ten – a fine effort to overcome their qualifying woes.
     Bruno Senna came home in ninth, scoring his first points for the Renault team, behind Scotsman Paul Di Resta in tenth.
     Next time out – Singapore. The question to ask is – can Sebastian Vettel win his second world championship in as many years in the six races before the season finale in Brazil?