Heading into Monza, Lewis Hamilton led the Drivers' Championship with 76 points, two ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa on 74. Robert Kubica sat third on 58 points, Kimi Räikkönen fourth on 57. Ferrari led the Constructors' Championship on 131 points, 12 ahead of McLaren on 119. The Italian race carried added weight because Hamilton had been demoted from victory in the previous round, the Belgian Grand Prix, after the stewards ruled he had gained an advantage by cutting a chicane, handing the win to Massa. McLaren had lodged an appeal against that decision.
All three practice sessions were affected by rain. In the wet opening session Adrian Sutil set the fastest time, with most cars unable to complete meaningful laps. The second session dried sufficiently for teams to run dry-weather tyres; Räikkönen topped it with a 1:23.861. Timo Glock led the final session at 1:35.464. Hamilton completed only eight laps in FP3 and finished last, more than eleven seconds off the pace.
Saturday's session was run in very wet conditions. Vettel, aged 21 years and 72 days, set a time of 1:37.555 to claim pole position — making him the youngest driver to start from pole in Formula One history, eclipsing Fernando Alonso's record set at the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix. Heikki Kovalainen qualified second, Mark Webber third after pushing Sébastien Bourdais to fourth on his final lap. Massa qualified sixth. Räikkönen and Hamilton were both eliminated in Q2, each blaming their timing of entry into the session; for Hamilton it was the first time in his career he had failed to reach Q3, and McLaren's only result outside the top ten in qualifying all season.
Heavy rain left the track very slippery at the start, prompting the race to begin at 14:00 local time behind the safety car. A rolling start was used throughout. Bourdais stalled on the grid and was pushed to the pits, finding himself last and a lap down before racing began.
The safety car returned to the pit lane at the end of lap 2. Vettel retained the lead into the first corner ahead of Kovalainen, Webber, Nico Rosberg, and Massa. Vettel immediately extended his lead; by lap 8 it stood at 6.3 seconds. Kovalainen suffered from the spray off the Toro Rosso throughout. Hamilton climbed steadily through the field from his 15th starting position, passing Räikkönen, Nick Heidfeld, Glock, Kubica, and Alonso in separate moves to reach seventh by lap 19. He made an initial attempt on Räikkönen at the third corner on lap 5 but overshot the chicane, wisely returning the place to avoid a penalty.
Vettel pitted on lap 18 from the lead; Kovalainen, Webber, and Massa followed four laps later. Light rain appeared briefly on lap 26. Coulthard attempted intermediates on lap 28 but lost grip immediately and ran wide. Most of the field switched to intermediates over the following laps as the track continued to transition. Hamilton was setting the fastest laps — a 1:32.869 on lap 38 — but could not reduce Vettel's lead to a meaningful margin. Kubica, Räikkönen, and Webber traded fastest laps in the closing stages. On lap 49, Webber attempted to pass Hamilton at the first chicane, making wheel contact; Webber rejoined ahead but returned the position. Räikkönen passed Coulthard and Piquet late in the race to reach ninth. Vettel crossed the finish line 12.5 seconds ahead of Kovalainen.
Vettel first, Kovalainen second, Kubica third (via a one-stop strategy), Alonso fourth (same strategy), Nick Heidfeld fifth, Massa sixth, Hamilton seventh, Webber eighth.
At 21 years and 73 days, Vettel became the youngest race winner in Formula One history, breaking the record he had set for youngest pole-sitter the day before. The record for youngest winner was subsequently broken by Max Verstappen at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, aged 18 years and 228 days.
The victory was also the first for Toro Rosso — the first win for the Italian constructor in any form, including its previous incarnation as Minardi, a team that had never won in its long history and had been a popular backmarker through much of the 1990s and early 2000s. Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali paid tribute to Toro Rosso as an engine partner. It was also the first win by a Red Bull-owned team in Formula One, coming before sister team Red Bull Racing had claimed a victory.
Vettel was the first German driver to win a Formula One race since Michael Schumacher at the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix.
In the championship, Massa scored six points (sixth) and Hamilton two (seventh), narrowing Hamilton's lead to one point with four races remaining. Kovalainen's second place reduced Ferrari's lead over McLaren in the Constructors' Championship from twelve to five points.
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