2008 FORMULA 1 79° GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA

[Manny6]

A good race indeed. not filled with safty car deployments.
Congrats to Vettel, shows you don't need to be in a top team to
shine, or have a top car to show your talents so Kudos to him
I still can't put the pices of the pizzle togather when it comes to KOVI's race.
seems he just can't get it done in the race.
good race by lewis as well, damage limitation for sure. it could have been worse !!!

[TwistedArmco]

Kovalainen sounds leaden. Seb, though. Choking with happiness!!
What a kid!!

[iceman1]

Rob Smedley, Massa's race engineer :
"It was a difficult race. We went to lap 22 and then when we came out we got stuck behind the one stoppers and of course, if we'd had another two or three seconds we would have got in front of that group and it would have been a completely different race. We could have finished certainly a lot higher.

"Then we knew it would be very difficult with Lewis and thankfully we made the right call on the intermediate tyre, to bring him in, knowing that Lewis would also have to stop before the end of the race, so we made the right call and got out in front of Lewis and that's basically got us the point on Lewis today."

[shailf1]

it was the first 15 laps that got vettel the victory because he has a lead of around 10s advantage.

[ric.rios]

And don't forget: Toro Rosso was Minardi one day!

[iceman1]

Kovalainen's seem a bit withdrawn in the last couple of races

[total3d]

kubica poisoned vettels drink
thats why he hit him in the back, to make it flow through him faster!!!

great race though, well done to vettel and STR. also mclaren- kov 2nd, and hamilton 7th from 15th!!!(showed us some pretty amazing moves under brakes)

[AzShadow]

Holy moly! This surely was a memorable race.

I never expected Vettel to be this strong. He got the pole position with a relatively light car, but it didn't matter. In the race he was just phenomenal and nobody could really match him. BMW has been the third power for 2 years and they won the race by Canada pretty much by sheer luck. Vettel beat the top guys fair and square and that is just amazing.

Hamilton was very fast at the start of the race, but his one-stop strategy didn't work out in terms of the weather and tyres. Some of his moves seemed also a bit uneasy and controversial. Quite funny that at the start of the race Kimi was miserably slow and Hamilton was light years ahead of everyone. Then at the last stage Hamilton calmed down and was there with the others while Kimi was flying, but it was too late for him at that point.

The former Minardi team beats the top teams... this is the best race there's been for ages!

Interesting statics too:
The youngest winner ever, Vettel
The youngest podium couple ever
All three at the podium today have won their first race this year

[shailf1]

it wasent speed that got the vettel his win. It was consistent. Look at his fastest lap. It was around 2.5sec slow than the fastest lap. He got a little bit lucky that between him and top runner there were a lot of slow runners.

[shailf1]

[scermat]

Vettel had everything to loose and did nothing wrong. the stuff champions are made of.

Massa and Kimi both sucked big time. Massa had everything to gain but in the end gained the minimum he could. Kimi just couldnt be arsed. same with kova its like he expected hte win to fall into his laps. solid drive though.

Lewis then, was the only driver on Vettels level today. overtaking like maaaaad.

[f1anatic]

Congratulations Vettel and Toro Rosso and hope to see more wins from either ! The former Minardi team must feel very good for beating their senior "sister squad" Red Bull whose older chassis they use and the Ferrari donor squad (for their engines) and the mighty McLaren. Good job !

As for Raikkonen, this guy amazes me more and more. He surely is making me feel that he is a fraud in terms of championship-worthy skills. You can only blame the car and the setup that much.

Well done Massa, given the conditions. Not impressive or praise worthy but surely must be mentioned for consistency and being able to keep it on the island.

Hamilton impressive, good car too but he must have had a problem towards the end.

[iceman1]

Great drive by Vettel today ,Really nice to have a new race winner shame he's going to Redbull next year (Red Bull may try to get some Ferrari engines for their cars next year.)

[Lightning983]

Today is probably the happiest day i had in the last couple of months

I finally found someone to cheer for after Schumacher... and that someone is Vettel... best part, he's German
I also enjoyed the German/Italian anthem at the end... some neighbours complained to me turning the volume on my TV so loud when it was playing lol

The race itself was great, interesting to watch, always wondering if it will rain. A perfect 10 in my book.

I'm still a Ferrari fan, but as far as the drivers are concerned, i think both Massa and Raikonnen SUCK.
Di Montezemolo made a huge mistake when he signed Kimi for 2010. A shame i have to put up with those 2 guys in my team for the next 2 years

And as for Hamilton, i mean, i know he had a quick car

I was a bit so - so with his penalty in belgium, but after what he did to Glock and Webber, i think he really deserves another one. A total and complete a**@@@e.

[phil1993]

Toro Rosso have more points than Red Bull! Vettel is being demoted!