Sebastian Vettel became the youngest driver to win a Formula One race yesterday after finishing first in a wet Italian Grand Prix from pole position.

The 21-year-old German driver edged Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren by 12.5 seconds on the slick Monza circuit to give Torro Rosso its first ever win.

“For sure the best day of my life,” Vettel said. “These pictures, these emotions – I will never forget.”

BMW-Sauber’s Robert Kubica was third ahead of Fernando Alonso of Renault, while Nick Heidfeld of BMW-Sauber was fifth.

Lewis Hamilton worked his way up from 15th on the grid to finish seventh, maintaining his lead in the overall drivers’ standings. Felipe Massa of Ferrari was sixth and now trails the McLaren driver by one point with four races left.

Neither Vettel nor his Toro Rosso team could contain their emotions as the young driver emerged onto the podium with fists pumping, before the champagne sprayed in all directions.

“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 never lost his nerve during the wettest race at Monza for 27 years as he broke Alonso’s mark of F1’s youngest winner. Alonso, a two-time world champion, was 22 when he won the 2003 Hungarian GP.

The safety car was brought out for the start with the steady drizzle failing to let up and all cars using extreme wet tires to navigate the damp track.

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. “I could make a gap to Heikki straight away.”

Kovalainen said a brake problem and his tires compromised his chance at challenging Vettel early on.

“It was not possible to win today,” the Finnish driver said. “I was just trying to push and go faster. I think it was the maximum we could do today.”

Vettel’s teammate Sebastien Bourdais was a lap behind to start after his car stalled from fourth on the grid.

Hamilton eventually got past defending F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari and had continued to overtake his rivals, moving up to eighth by the 17th lap.

Massa, who had started sixth, won a gripping overtaking duel with Nico Rosberg to move up into fourth before dropping back again.

Hamilton pitted later than many of his rivals and was trailing only Vettel by the time he stopped to refuel, while Raikkonen – who trails Hamilton by 21 points – was stuck behind the traffic in 10th by his first stop as the drizzle began to let up.

“It got more tricky in the middle of the race when there was no standing water anymore,” Vettel said. “People went left and right looking for water to cool down the tires. It was very slippery.”

Kubica, who had started 11th, was one of the drivers who benefited from a long first stint as the Polish driver could switch straight onto the dryer tires when he came in for his first pit stop.

“I think we did the right choice, staying out as long as possible for my pit stop,” said Kubica, who shaved four points off of Hamilton’s lead to sit 14 back in third. “The start of the race was very difficult. I overtook Nick Heidfeld without seeing him. I kept the car on the track.”

Hamilton pushed Mark Webber out down the straight in the closing stages with the cars touching wheels to force the Red Bull driver off the track. Webber finished eighth for the final point.

Only Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella retired despite the slippery conditions.