Sebastian Vettel’s pole position for the Italian Grand Prix makes him the youngest driver ever to qualify first for a Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso was the previous holder of the record at 21 years and 236 days when he took pole position in the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix. Vettel is 21 years and 73 days old.
Vettel is already the youngest driver to score a point in an F1 race, which he did on his d?�?�but at Indianapolis for BMW last year.
Before Alonso Rubens Barrichello was F1’s youngest pole sitter at 22 years 96 days, which he set at the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix. Conditions on that day were similar to those at Monza today, as Barrichello set an early quick time before the rain worsened, preventing faster drivers from beating him.
It is also the first time a Toro Rosso has started from pole position. The tea took over from Minardi at the end of 2005, who had also never started from pole position in 21 years in F1. Their best qualifying position was Pierluigi Martini’s second at Pheonix in 1990.
Read more about Sebastian Vettel – Sebastian Vettel biography
Sush
13th September 2008, 16:01
in title, “pole man”?
would “youngest pole sitter” sound better?, you know, equal rights and all!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
13th September 2008, 16:08
Sush – yeah, but ‘sitter’ breaks it across another line. Plus, no women have ever been on pole in F1. Sad but true.
Jonesracing82
13th September 2008, 16:12
Vettel is similar to another young German named Stefan Bellof!
young, great in the wet, drives for a lowly team and destined for a bright future, and German!
sadly Bellof was killed before we could see him shine!
Sush
13th September 2008, 16:16
breaks it accross another line?, i’m using Opera (thoroughly recomended), and its on the other line now.
i shall wiki bellof now Jonesracing82, not heard of him till your comment.
Polak
13th September 2008, 16:19
Congratuations to Vettel. That was a crazy quali! … and dissapointing
ajokay
13th September 2008, 16:32
I’m just happy Minardi have finally made it to pole position, 3 years after they cesed to exist.
MacademiaNut
13th September 2008, 19:12
FIA is investigating car #s 15, 23, 10, 14, and 7. They all might incur a 10 place grid penalty tomorrow.
the limit
13th September 2008, 19:16
I’ve just finished watching the highlight reel from qualifying, and I just cannot wait for tomorrow. To be brutally honest, I was a little sceptical of Vettel when he came to Formula One, but I am converting into a fan at a very fast rate of knots.
Monza today looked 100 times more daunting with the rain and poor track conditions, and I hope that that continues for the race tomorrow. If it does rain, then I have a sneaky suspicion that this is going to be the race of the year to watch. Hamilton and Raikkonen will want it, badly, and have alot of cars to pass to achieve an unlikely win. Massa is not exactly in the boxed seats, but is certainly in a better position than his rivals.
All I know is that a grid like the one we have for tomorrow usually points towards an exciting, and hopefully, penalty free race.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
13th September 2008, 19:19
MacademiaNut – have you got a link to a story about that? (Or are you just joking because those are the five cars that qualified in front of Massa?)
Nick Caulfield
13th September 2008, 21:35
Excuse my pedantry but you have written
“Read more about Sebastien Bourdais – Sebastian Vettel biography”
at the end of the article
Macademianut
13th September 2008, 23:05
of course, I am joking ;)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
14th September 2008, 0:20
Nick – thanks for pointing that out – fixed :-)
MacademiaNut – thought so!
ajokay
14th September 2008, 0:42
All these Sebastiens… there’s too many in F1 these days! It’s enough to make your head spin.
peterg
14th September 2008, 7:37
Nothing pleases me more than a new young driver upseting the order. Particually if it’s in the wet with a humble little team.
Everybody has forgotten Winklehocks charge in the Spyker, another wet affair, a while back.
Great result for the other Sebastian too.
Sush
14th September 2008, 9:47
haha peterg, winkelhock was awesome, well lucky…. I actually laughed my head off last year at that race, and the fact that only Ferrari, McLaren, Renault and SPYKER led races last year make it all the more sweeter.