Sebastian Vettel became the youngest driver to win a Formula One race at the Italian Grand Prix and was immediately faced with comparisons to another iconic German driver. The 21-year-old Vettel edged McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen by 12.5 seconds in the rain at Monza on Sunday to give Torro Rosso its first-ever win and prompted discussion over his similarity to seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher. “To compare anybody to Michael I think is a bit ridiculous,” Vettel said. “(But) I'm proud, in a way, because I know him.” While Vettel was making history, Lewis Hamilton showed that he is the current master of wet conditions as the McLaren driver dominated in the rain to hang onto the championship lead by a single point. After starting 15th on the grid, Hamilton missed out on the podium because of a poor tire swap and ended seventh - one spot behind nearest rival Felipe Massa of Ferrari, who finished where he started the race. “If it had kept on raining, I feel pretty confident I probably could have even won from 15th grid position,” Hamilton said. “Still, today was all about damage control. I came away with some points and kept my lead in the world drivers' championship.” But Sunday's spotlight landed squarely on Vettel, who never lost his nerve during the wettest race at Monza for 27 years to break Fernando Alonso's mark of F1's youngest winner. Alonso, a two-time world champion, was 22 when he won the 2003 Hungarian GP with Renault. “For sure the best day of my life,” Vettel said. “These pictures, these emotions – I will never forget.” BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica completed the podium ahead of Alonso, Nick Heidfeld of BMW-Sauber was fifth and Mark Webber of Red Bull rounded out the points in eighth. Neither Vettel nor his Toro Rosso team could contain their emotions as the young driver emerged onto the podium with fists pumping. “Who would have thought about that at the beginning of the season?” Vettel said of Toro Rosso's chances. “We can be proud of ourselves, celebrating a victory. What a weekend.” Vettel, who also was the youngest driver to start from pole, held his position over Kovalainen on the flying start thanks to a clear track and none of the poor visibility that the rest of the field had to deal with from the resulting spray. “Being first (and) having no visibility problems at all I think was the key,” said Vettel, who will replace David Coulthard at sister team Red Bull next season.
