Vettel youngest Formula One winner

Sebastian Vettel became the youngest driver to win a Formula One race when the 21-year-old German captured the Italian Grand Prix in Monza on a wet course that made for difficult driving. Vettel was on the pole and edged Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren by 12.5 seconds to give Torro Rosso its first victory. "For sure the best day of my life," Vettel said. "These pictures, these emotions - I will never forget." Fernando Alonso, a two-time world champion, had been the youngest winner at 22 when he won the 2003 Hungarian GP. Lewis Hamilton worked his way up from 15th on the grid to finish seventh, maintaining his lead in the overall standings. Felipe Massa of Ferrari was sixth and trails the McLaren driver by one point with four races left . . . Tony Schumacher broke a tie with Joe Amato for the Top Fuel career victory record, taking the inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C., for his 53d triumph. Schumacher held off Antron Brown for his seventh straight victory, 12th of the year, 28th consecutive elimination-round win and 14th final-round appearance - all NHRA season Top Fuel records.

Deanna Nolan and Plenette Pierson scored 11 points each to lead the Detroit Shock to a 61-59 victory over the host New York Liberty in the season finale for both teams. The Shock, the top seed in the Eastern Conference, won for the sixth time in seven games and will open the playoffs at Indiana Friday night. Cathrine Kraayeveld had 9 points for the Liberty, who host the Connecticut Sun in their postseason opener Thursday . . . Marie Ferdinand-Harris scored 14 points, DeLisha Milton-Jones added 12, and the Los Angeles Sparks led all the way in beating the visiting Seattle Storm, 65-48, in a preview of their first-round playoff series . . . Charde Houston scored 18 points to lead the Minnesota Lynx to a 96-70 win over the Mystics in Washington. The Mystics finished the season with nine straight losses . . . Tammy Sutton-Brown scored a career-high 26 points and the Fever set a franchise scoring record in a 103-89 win over the Phoenix Mercury in Indianapolis . . . Tina Thompson had 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks and the Houston Comets beat the Sky, 79-76, in Chicago. Houston will play its season finale today against Sacramento at Texas State University's Strahan Coliseum in San Marcos. The game was postponed Friday because of Hurricane Ike.

Sanya Richards beat Olympic 400-meter champion Christine Ohuruogu at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany, handing the Briton her only defeat of the year. Richards had been considered a favorite in the 400 at Beijing last month and the American set the early pace in that race, only to fade to third. There was no such letdown yesterday, with Richards powering from the start and winning with plenty to spare in 50.41 seconds. Ohuruogu was second in 50.83, and Novlene Williams finished third in 51.30. In the 100, Shelly-Ann Fraser followed up her Olympic gold medal by beating silver medalist and fellow Jamaican Kerron Stewart.

Former White Sox reliever Bobby Thigpen was quick to congratulate the man who broke his saves record, sending a note to Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez. Rodriguez earned his 58th save this season when he finished out Los Angeles's 5-2 win over Seattle Saturday night. Thigpen posted 57 saves for Chicago in 1990. "Only a handful of major league relievers understand what it takes to reach the 50-save mark," Thigpen wrote. "Your record-setting season is an accomplishment you should treasure this year and for years into the future. I am certain your record for saves will stand for many, many seasons to come." . . . White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko still isn't sure when his sprained right knee will heal enough to let him play. Manager Ozzie Guillen said he hopes Konerko, who hurt himself during Tuesday's doubleheader against Toronto, will be able to play when the White Sox visit the Yankees this week.

Preston Burpo made four saves and the host Colorado Rapids shut out the Chicago Fire, 2-0, to stay in contention for a playoff spot and prevent Chicago (38 points) from tying the Revolution (41 points) for second place in MLS's Eastern Conference. Chicago is winless in its last 10 games in Colorado, dating to 1999 . . . The Houston Dynamo's game against the El Salvadoran club Luis Angel Firpo Wednesday at Robertson Stadium has been postponed because of Hurricane Ike. No makeup date has been set. Houston's home game Saturday against the San Jose Earthquakes remains on the schedule.

Jack Falla, a former hockey writer at Sports Illustrated before becoming a communications professor at Boston University, died of heart failure in Maine. The Natick resident was the author of a number of books on hockey, including "Open Ice: Reflections and Confessions of a Hockey Lifer," that is to be released this month . . . Russia won its fourth Fed Cup in five years, defeating Spain when Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Anabel Medina Garrigues, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, to clinch the title in Madrid. The victory gave Russia an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the top team event in women's tennis. The Russians completed the 4-0 sweep when Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova downed Nuria Llagostera Vives and Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-2, 6-1, in doubles . . . Second-seeded Patty Schnyder won her first title in three years, defeating Austrian teenager Tamira Paszek, 6-3 6-0, to take the Bali Open in Nusa Dua, Indonesia . . . Christian Vande Velde won the Tour of Missouri in St. Louis, finishing with the main pack in the rain-shortened final stage. Vande Velde edged Australia's Michael Rogers by 18 seconds . . . Alberto Contador of Spain extended his lead in the Spanish Vuelta, edging American Levi Leipheimer by two seconds to win the 14th stage. The Spaniard finished the 98-mile leg from Oviedo to Fuentes de Invierno in 4 hours 16 minutes 1 second and leads Leipheimer, his Astana teammate, by 1:17 in the overall standings. Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre of Spain is third overall, 3:41 behind.