Sir Jackie's view – Italian Grand Prix
Three-time world champion Sir Jackie Stewart achieved his first ever Grand Prix victory at Monza – so the RBS ambassador knows exactly how 21-year-old Sebastian Vettel felt after accomplishing the same feat.
Three-time world champion Sir Jackie Stewart achieved his first ever Grand Prix victory at Monza – so the RBS ambassador knows exactly how 21-year-old Sebastian Vettel felt after accomplishing the same feat.
"This was a very exciting race for everybody concerned. For Sebastian Vettel, first of all, to be the youngest driver to qualify on pole, and then follow it up by winning the Grand Prix. It was an entire weekend of superb driving: one very long Make it Happen moment.
To score your first ever Grand Prix win in Italy is special – I can vouch for that, as my first ever GP win was at Monza way back in 1965. There's no crowd in the world more emotional or more enthusiastic. They give credit where credit is due, and everybody was rightly applauding Vettel's performance, and that of his team, Toro Rosso, who could be called a ‘junior team'.
I'm very happy for the team boss Gerhard Berger. He won races as a driver, but I think this will be just as big for him as any of those victories. Speaking again from personal experience, I got more sheer pleasure from of my win as a team boss with Stewart Grand Prix in 1999 at the Nurburgring then I did from most of my wins as a driver. Just because you're working with a team of people and seeing them also being rewarded by success.
Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton also did well, particularly Lewis, who drove aggressively and made good progress from a starting position of 15th to finish seventh, right behind Massa. I thought he was going to continue his progress and pass the Brazilian in the closing laps, but his tyres began to hold him back. Massa will have been very pleased to reduce the gap in the Drivers' Championship to a single point. Both of them did a good job, but not an outstanding one."
