MONZA (Italy), Sept 14: Germany’s Sebastian Vettel stunned Formula One as the sport’s youngest race winner at the age of 21 on Sunday with victory for tiny Toro Rosso at their home Italian Grand Prix.

Vettel, also the youngest driver to start a grand prix from pole position, gave his Ferrari-powered team their first win with a remarkably assured drive through the spray and slippery conditions.

It was a stunning result for Formula One’s smallest team, formerly tail-enders Minardi, who are co-owned at least until the end of next year by Red Bull energy drink billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz and Austrian Gerhard Berger.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who started 15th after losing a gamble with the weather in qualifying, retained his championship lead by a single point after overtaking a string of rivals to finish seventh.

Ferrari’s Brazilian Felipe Massa, Hamilton’s closest rival, failed to make the most of starting nine places ahead of the Briton and finished sixth in a wet race that began behind the safety car.

With four races remaining, Hamilton has 78 points to Massa’s 77 and Robert Kubica’s 64 for BMW-Sauber, pending an appeal into the result of the Belgian Grand Prix where the championship leader was demoted from first to third for cutting a chicane.

“It’s amazing, I can’t believe it. I’m lost for words,” said Vettel over the radio after taking the chequered flag 12.5 seconds clear of McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen.

“It is the best day of my life. These pictures and emotions I will never forget,” he added later.

Kubica, himself only 23, took third place at the circuit where he took his first podium in 2006.

At 21 years and 74 days old, Vettel became Germany’s first race winner since Ferrari’s seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher retired in 2006.

Renault’s double world champion Fernando Alonso, who held the previous record for the youngest race winner after chalking up his first victory in Hungary in 2003 at 22 years and 26 days, finished fourth.

Germany’s Nick Heidfeld was fifth for BMW-Sauber while Australian Mark Webber collected the final point in eighth place for Red Bull.

Results:

1. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Toro Rosso) 1hour 26minutes 47.494seconds; 2. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren) at 12.512sec; 3. Robert Kubica (POL/BMW Sauber) 20.471; 4. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault) 23.903; 5. Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW Sauber) 27.748; 6. Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 28.816; 7. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) 29.912; 8. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull) 32.048; 9. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) 39.468; 10. Nelson Piquet Jr (BRA/Renault) 54.445; 11. Timo Glock (GER/Toyota) 58.888; 12. Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams) 1:02.015; 13. Jarno Trulli (ITA/Toyota) 1:05.954; 14. Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams) 1:08.635; 15. Jenson Button (GBR/Honda) 1:13.370; 16. David Coulthard (GBR/Red Bull) 1 lap; 17. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Honda) 1 lap; 18. Sebastien Bourdais (FRA/Toro Rosso) 1 lap; 19. Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India) 2 laps.

Overall standings:

Drivers:

1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 78.0pts, 2. Felipe Massa (BRA) 77.0, 3. Robert Kubica (POL) 64.0, 4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 57.0, 5. Nick Heidfeld (GER) 53.0, 6. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) 51.0, 7. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 28.0, 8. Jarno Trulli (ITA) 26.0, 9. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 23.0, 10. Mark Webber (AUS) 20.0, 11. Timo Glock (GER) 15.0, 12. Nelson Piquet Jr (BRA) 13.0, 13. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) 11.0, 14. Nico Rosberg (GER) 9.0, 15. Kazuki Nakajima (JPN) 8.0, 16. David Coulthard (GBR) 6.0, 17. Sibastien Bourdais (FRA) 4.0, 18. Jenson Button (GBR) 3.0.

Constructors:

1. Ferrari 134.0pts, 2. McLaren 129.0, 3. BMW Sauber 117.0, 4. Toyota 41.0, 5. Renault 41.0, 6. Toro Rosso 27.0, 7. Red Bull 26.0, 8. Williams 17.0, 9. Honda 14.0.—Agencies