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Vettel wins pole for Italian Grand Prix

Sep 13, 2008 - 2:52 PM MONZA, Italy (Ticker) -- Sebastian Vettel will become Formula One's youngest-ever polesitter at Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.

Vettel conquered wet weather and the course Saturday to post a winning time of 1 minute, 37.555 seconds during his third qualifying run, sparking celebration in the Toro Rosso garage.

"I said to my engineers that if it was wet we had to go for pole," said Vettel, who at 21 years, 73 days will be the youngest driver to start on the pole. "But the conditions were so bad, and sometimes I almost lost the car because of aqua-planing.

"But this is just amazing. I never ever dreamed I would be on pole, and at our home grand prix. There are two Italian teams - people know all about Scuderia Ferrari, but now those people will know about Scuderia Toro Rosso."

It was a disappointing day for standings leader Lewis Hamilton, who will begin in the No. 15 spot for McLaren on Sunday - the worst starting position of his career. Felipe Massa, who is nipping at Hamilton in the standings, could only secure sixth in his Ferrari.

Heikki Kovalainen of the McLaren team will be second in the starting grid followed by Red Bull's Mark Webber and Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais.

Nico Rosberg will start fifth in his Williams, followed by Massa, the Toyota of Jarno Trulli, Renault's Fernando Alonso, Timo Glock in his Toyota and the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld.

More rain is expected for Sunday's 190.5-mile race, scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. EDT.