The Australian, who sold the team to Red Bull at the end of 2005, still has close emotional ties to the outfit - and was delighted to see them achieve something many thought was impossible.
Autosport.com caught up with Stoddart for his views on the race, Vettel and the future of customer cars in Formula One.
Q. Did you watch the Italian Grand Prix?
Paul Stoddart: "I certainly did, I saw it twice. I watched it live and I also watched the highlights."
Q. What were your emotions as it all unfolded?
PS: "I was just really, really happy for all the guys. One of the prime things when I sold the team in 2005 was who would keep it in Faenza and keep the majority of the staff. Seeing it all come together was fantastic.
"It was not as though it was a gifted win, he went out there and won that race. It was a good day in F1."
Q. Could you ever have imagined Toro Rosso winning this season when we spoke at the team launch in Melbourne?
PS: "Not really. But never take away the impact of an Adrian Newey car. The only two engines that have shone this year are Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz, so put those two things together with a very, very talented guy, and you can see what happened.
"Then give it a chance at, of all the places, at Monza. If you were writing the script you could not have done it better. I was just pleased for Giancarlo (Minardi), I was one of the first people to text him and Massimo (team manager). It was a day for them. Red Bull/Toro Rosso will go on to bigger and better things."
Q. Do you take some personal satisfaction from having kept the team alive?
PS: "You cannot take away what Red Bull have done and what Gerhard (Berger) has done. There has been an improvement in the budget. It was a justification for turning down offers to sell the team to people who were going to shut it. I could have taken more money from people who would have closed it down, but I didn't."
Q. Giorgio Ascanelli talks about the belief the team have got now. Can you see that?
PS: "He is certainly one of the people who has to be credited with the turnaround. You get times like this in F1, go back to Jordan in 1999 when the Mugen-Honda engine hit the sweet spot and the team could punch above their weight, it can happen.
"I believe in what they said, they have improved steadily. These are not gifted results, they have been earned results. And just look at the next four races. We have a complete unknown in Singapore, high potential for rain in China, Japan and Brazil, and they could end up anywhere.
"At the moment the car is performing to the max, it is down to a sweet spot of balance and being driven by two good drivers. Let's wish them all the best of luck."
Q. What can you see the team doing in future?
PS: "First of all you have to got to sort the customer car issue out, this is not going to make it easier for the likes of customer cars and not make it easy for certain other teams wanting to give them stuff. It is an issue that needs sorting out.
"Technically now, with Honda closing Super Aguri, you have really only got Toro Rosso and a decision has to be made about customer cars. My view of if it will be extended for a bit longer, but don't be too surprised to see them change the rules. If they have to funds the build their own car, that could be the difference between a successful future and a troubled one."
Q. Is it better for F1 to have successful customer cars than an old Minardi at the back of the grid?
PS: "I am torn on that question. The one thing that made me proud of Minardi was when we operated with a 10th or a 20th of our competitors' budgets and every now and again scored a few points when we punched above our weight.
"Toro Rosso have a world championship designer designing the cars, the resources of Red Bull, and one of the two top engines in competition this year and they made it all work, irrespective of what chassis is there, but part of me says is it fair?
"Is it fair for someone to spend 25 million compared to others spending half a billion, and be able to go out and win races? You can argue there is righteousness in both arguments and I am not taking anything away from the victory, but I do think F1 should be constructors only."
Q. And what do you make of Vettel?
PS: "It was a tremendous performance, but it was not just this one. It has been coming for a long time. We all saw him pouring his heart out and he has been popping up in difficult conditions. He will go on to tremendous performances.
"There are youngsters there in F1 who are babies and I don't mean to be rude to them. You talk about Hamilton, Kubica and Vettel, they are young, young guys who have a long future ahead of them.
"Vettel is world championship material. He had a car yesterday capable of showing what he could do, and he did it."
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