However, just when everyone expected to see Vettel's car parked outside the track, the German began recovering his speed and eventually used a late pit stop strategy to end the race in 4th place, two places ahead of his teammate.
Shortly after the radio conversation between Vettel and his race engineer, the team started analyzing the engine telemetry and found out that there was nothing wrong with it. At the end of the race, during a more thorough investigation, the Austrian team finally got to the bottom of it: the German's car suffered from a temporary locking of the brakes.
Losing so much time in the first half of the race, Vettel decided to stay on the track for as long as he could until finally switching to the option tire one lap to the end. He returned ahead of 5th placed Nico Rosberg on the circuit, and maintained that position until the finish line.
“Around lap 20 something happened to the car, I don't know what it was, maybe there was some friction in the car, but fortunately the problem solved itself. In the meantime though, I lost connection to the group ahead and the tow, so around three to four seconds,” explained Vettel.
“Our strategy was a risk today - if it works then you're the king and if it doesn't you can be the idiot. Fortunately it worked and the team did a great job,” added the German driver, admitting his delight over the final outcome of the race.
His 4th place in Italy has dropped him to 5th in the overall classification, but his points deficit from championship leader and teammate Mark Webber is only 24 points. There are still 5 more races to go in the 2010 campaign.
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