Guest Author - Christine Blachford

Not content with being the youngest driver to score a pole position, Sebastian Vettel went on to break the record for the youngest Grand Prix winner as well.

Both titles were held by Fernando Alonso previously, but now Vettel has snatched the record by winning aged 21 years and 73 days. Alonso was one of the first to congratulate Vettel as soon as he was out of the car at the end of the race, and the pair embraced.

Vettel also holds the records for being the youngest driver to lead a race for at least one lap, the youngest to score a point, and youngest podium finisher. However, he has admitted that scoring records isn’t really important. The win is an amazing feat, obviously, but it’s all about the future for him. This makes a lot of sense, as if you’re scoring records for being the youngest at something, you’ve got plenty of racing ahead of you. The German driver also holds the record for being the quickest to get a penalty, as he was caught speeding in the pitlane just nine seconds after leaving the garage, and fined $1,000. It’s understandable that he’d want to forget that particular record.

The Toro Rosso driver won his first race in damp conditions at Monza this weekend, beating his team mate and both drivers from their sister team Red Bull. He is being promoted to Red Bull next season, as Formula 1 veteran David Coulthard retires, and he will test for them this month at Jerez. Rumours are rife that he may actually be brought up to replace Coulthard sooner than the end of the season, but with only a few races remaining, this does seem unlikely.

Vettel began his F1 career with BMW, becoming third driver as Robert Kubica was called up to the team. When Kubica was injured in 2007, Vettel got his first taste of racing in F1, and that is when he scored his first point – the youngest to do so. BMW allowed the youngster to move to Toro Rosso when Scott Speed departed later in the year.

As a German driving for an Italian team, Vettel has instantly been compared to Michael Schumacher. His team principal Gerhard Berger has said that he’s sure the young driver will go on to win championships in the future, and soon. For his part, Vettel has said he doesn’t want to be compared to the seven times world champion. He knows the win is unlikely to be repeated this year, and perhaps even next, and is just counting it as a good start to his career.