Vettel wins Italian Grand Prix

MONZA, Italy, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Sebastian Vettel won Sunday's Formula One Italian Grand Prix auto race at rain-soaked Monza, Italy.

The 21-year-old rookie, driving a Toro Rosso, beat runner-up Heikki Kovalainen to the finish line by 12.5 seconds to become the youngest driver ever to win an F1 race. At 22 years-old, Fernando Alonso captured the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2003.

"Unbelievable," Vettel said at a post-race news conference. "The whole race we had no problems, the car was working really fine. I had a fantastic race with a very good strategy."

After a rainy start, race track conditions began to improve after the first 10 laps, with F1 points leader Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen moving through the field.

By the 30th lap, Vettel held a 12.5-second lead over Kovalainen.

Robert Kubica, Fernando Alonso and Nick Heidfeld completed the top-five finishers.

Hamilton finished seventh and retained a one-point lead over sixth-place finisher Felipe Massa.