Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso Win One for the Underdogs

Go figure that Formula One’s most famous tracks on the current calendar (Spa and Monza) would deliver two of the most exciting and surprising races in recent memory.

We all know happened at Spa last week. Well, technically, we won’t know the final results until later this month, but you know what I mean.

And now, we have Monza to thank for the biggest surprise of the year…and probably in a very long time. Sebastian Vettel’s win was not only his first, but the first for the Scuderia Toro Rosso/Minardi outfit, comprised of team members who likely didn’t think they’d ever see a podium, let alone a win.

It was one of the only times that an underdog had his day in the sun without any problems. We all know that auto racing can be inhumanely cruel, but that is especially true for small teams working on smaller budgets. And even when they do have moments to shine, bad luck often interferes.

In 1997, world champion Damon Hill, then with the Arrows team, had dominated the Hungarian Grand Prix; the day had served as a reminder of just how good he was at driving. However, mechanical gremlins saw him surrender the lead to Jacques Villeneuve’s Williams and settle for a disappointing second.

In 1999, the Jordan team, a perennial midfield runner, shot up the grid as driver Heinz Herald Frentzen won a pair of races and was almost in reach of a driver’s championship. But, in the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, his engine sputtered and died…while he was leading.

In 2003, the old Minardi team had their time in the sun when it rained during Friday qualifying (remember they had two qualifying rounds then) and held the top two spots after that day. Of course, one round remained on Saturday, and the dry conditions saw the Minardi take up their normal last row positions.

Even the aforementioned Vettel had to endure his own moments of disappointment after momentarily shining. Fuji in 2007 saw him running third, behind Red Bull driver Mark Webber, when he ran into the back of his veteran “teammate” (both compete under the Red Bull banner, but on different squads). His DNF brought him zero points after what looked like a sure podium.

Earlier this year, we all remember Adrian Sutil falling victim to Kimi Raikkonen’s mistake and/or misfortune (depending on whether or not you believe Kimi hit a wet patch) at Monaco with their collision, knocking Sutil out of a sure fourth.

And of course, everyone still has a bitter tastes in their mouths over Super Aguri’s sad demise, as they were forced to withdraw due to a lack of funding (after having a 2007 season which them lead Honda in the standings for much of the year).

The harsh realities of the sport are often even more cruel to the small teams/drivers just looking to battle with the larger teams. It is always nice to see one of them have more than a moment of success.

And that was what we got on Sunday. Sure, Vettel has been dragging his Toro Rosso STR3 up the grid much of the season, but a podium wasn’t on anyone’s mind. Simple points would have been enough for celebration in that camp.

His win on Sunday had fans of the old Jordan, Sauber, Minardi, Arrows, and Tyrell teams celebrating. It also reminded current Williams fans that one of the little guys (Toro Rosso only differs from Minardi in name and funding…the latter being a good thing) can reach the mountain top.

And just when Formula One’s politics rears its ugly head and tries to dominate headlines, Sebastian Vettel and Toro Rosso give everybody something to smile about. Many kudos go out to them on a performance that will be remembered for a long time.