Your Reject of the Race - Monaco

Bob · Post by **Bob** » 27 May 2012, 14:01

Jenson Button - beaten by a Caterham on merit.

QuickYoda41 · Post by **QuickYoda41** » 27 May 2012, 14:03

Reject of the weekend: Maldonado
Reject of the race: Button

Plus the rain being slower than an HRT

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 27 May 2012, 14:03

Jenson Button
For my money, he's second in line for the unemployment queue at the Job Centre behind Massa now. He's been rubbish since Australia.

Pastor Maldonado
Just......

GwilymJJames · Post by **GwilymJJames** » 27 May 2012, 14:03

Pastor Maldonado - who in my opinion is lucky still to have a superlicence.

Ed24 · Post by **Ed24** » 27 May 2012, 14:04

Maldonado: Awful weekend... At least he's back to earth now and maybe that will help him.

Button - Poor weekend again, no idea what's happened for him recently - it might be time they find a 'crack' in his chassis.
Grosjean - Ruined a good chance by squeezing Schumacher into Turn 1.

Vassago wrote:Jean-Eric Vergne for blowing a career-best finish thanks to a gamble that was never going to cut it. I mean rain was predicted ever since lap 30 and none of it happened.

I think that either his tyres were over the cliff from his early first pitstop or he had damage. Since he had to pit, he may as well take a gamble.

DOSBoot · Post by **DOSBoot** » 27 May 2012, 14:05

1. Pastor Maldanodo: Crashed on the first lap on the race that he is usually good at.

2. Jenson Button: Slow all weekend, and was beaten by a Caterham. A really poor performance from a guy who won at Monaco 3 years ago.

Pointrox · Post by **Pointrox** » 27 May 2012, 14:07

Pastor Maldonado - for someone who supposedly won a race here he seemed to be completely out of place.
Honorary mentions go to weather - I really hoped for the rain to fall, and all we had was a few drops on Alonso's T-cam.
Jenson Button will also have his share.
As well as Romain Grosjean for being unable to finish the race once again, and spoiling the race for other drivers in the process.

Post by **mario** » 27 May 2012, 14:12

Cynon wrote:Pastor Maldonado -- Hit everything but the safety car this weekend...

He managed to cause one instead - talk about hero to zero, but multiple crashes and retiring on the opening lap is a pretty strong claim to that.

Cynon wrote:Jenson Button -- Is it really him or is McLewis back in effect?

I wouldn't necessarily say so - it looks more like Button is struggling to build up front tyre temperatures and maintaining a consistent balance, which probably comes in part from the new nose that McLaren have introduced (the slightly higher nose they tested in Mugello, where the team were looking for a way to slightly increase the airflow under the floor of the car to increase their downforce, particularly at the rear). In theory, the change should have helped both of their drivers, if not helped Button slightly more (he has generally preferred having a slightly more stable rear end than Hamilton), but it looks like Button hasn't quite been able to fine tune the performance of the car in the same way that Hamilton has.

Ed24 wrote:
Vassago wrote:Jean-Eric Vergne for blowing a career-best finish thanks to a gamble that was never going to cut it. I mean rain was predicted ever since lap 30 and none of it happened.

I think that either his tyres were over the cliff from his early first pitstop or he had damage. Since he had to pit, he may as well take a gamble.

He did have a reasonable gap to the cars behind him at the time, so even if he did start losing a second or so a lap, he was still close enough to the finish that he could have limped home for a few points. Had the rain continued falling at that intensity, it might have worked, but from what we saw on Thursday the track would have needed to be quite a bit wetter for that strategy to have worked.

Ed24 · Post by **Ed24** » 27 May 2012, 14:13

mario wrote:I think that either his tyres were over the cliff from his early first pitstop or he had damage. Since he had to pit, he may as well take a gamble.

He did have a reasonable gap to the cars behind him at the time, so even if he did start losing a second or so a lap, he was still close enough to the finish that he could have limped home for a few points. Had the rain continued falling at that intensity, it might have worked, but from what we saw on Thursday the track would have needed to be quite a bit wetter for that strategy to have worked.[/quote]

The tyre cliff means that you can easily lose more than a second or lap though. I guess we'll find out in a few hours what happened.

Vassago · Post by **Vassago** » 27 May 2012, 14:15

Ed24 wrote:
Vassago wrote:Jean-Eric Vergne for blowing a career-best finish thanks to a gamble that was never going to cut it. I mean rain was predicted ever since lap 30 and none of it happened.

I think that either his tyres were over the cliff from his early first pitstop or he had damage. Since he had to pit, he may as well take a gamble.

For a man who was plauded as the one TR who can actually race, that's a hogwash of excuse. You don't pit with six laps to go because your tires are going off!

Post by **Ataxia** » 27 May 2012, 14:17

Toro Rosso - Well, you screwed that up...
Maldonado - Gotta swallow some pride here, and so does he...

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 27 May 2012, 14:17

Many rejectful actions, but truly only one choice: Jenson Button - you could have put Rahel Frey in the car and she would have performed better. You are a hack, Jenson!

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 27 May 2012, 14:19

Pastor Maldonado: Hero to zero.

Honourary mention:

Weather: Just look at the place 20 minutes after the finish, it's bloody soaked.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 27 May 2012, 14:26

Pastor Maldonado - A weekend so rejectful he couldn't make it through the first lap :lol:

Jenson Button - Driving like it's 2001... Slow and stuck behind somebody who shouldn't be holding up someone, and wound up finishing behind a few backmarkers. Ouch. :lol:

The Weatherman - Predicted rain for the race, comes after the race ends. So much for that.

Whoever thought that putting Inters on Jean-Eric Vergne was a good idea - Self explanatory.

Ed24 · Post by **Ed24** » 27 May 2012, 14:32

Vassago wrote:For a man who was plauded as the one TR who can actually race, that's a hogwash of excuse. You don't pit with six laps to go because your tires are going off!

On lap 69, Vergne did a 1.28.459! That's 7 seconds slower than Di Resta was the lap before! The 3 laps before that he did a 20.6, 22.3 and then 26.2, so his pace was sinking faster than the Titanic. I think he had no choice but to pit.

Check the data yourself if you want;
http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1_media/Documents/mco-race-analysis.pdf

TheBigJ · Post by **TheBigJ** » 27 May 2012, 14:33

Ed24 wrote:
Vassago wrote:For a man who was plauded as the one TR who can actually race, that's a hogwash of excuse. You don't pit with six laps to go because your tires are going off!

On lap 69, Vergne did a 1.28.459! That's 4.5 seconds slower than Di Resta. I think he had no choice but to pit.

Still it wasn't Raikkonnen-esque, was it? He could probably hold on for 9th...

Ed24 · Post by **Ed24** » 27 May 2012, 14:36

TheBigJ wrote:
Ed24 wrote:
Vassago wrote:For a man who was plauded as the one TR who can actually race, that's a hogwash of excuse. You don't pit with six laps to go because your tires are going off!

On lap 69, Vergne did a 1.28.459! That's 4.5 seconds slower than Di Resta. I think he had no choice but to pit.

Still it wasn't Raikkonnen-esque, was it? He could probably hold on for 9th...

Well as I have now corrected myself above, Di Resta had an abnormally slow lap that lap as well so the time loss was closer to 7 seconds.

8 laps to go and losing 7 seconds a lap - and it would increase exponentially - he wasn't going to score points.

LionZoo · Post by **LionZoo** » 27 May 2012, 14:37

Michael Schumacher - A perfect example of having all events conspire against you. On another day (and without the 5 grid penalty, a penalty I don't agree with...) he could've won the race.

(By the way, hello from Hong Kong!)

tc3j3r · Post by **tc3j3r** » 27 May 2012, 14:38

Pastor Maldonado no explanation needed
The person who forced Monaco to abandon its traditional 3:30 start to fall in line with the other 2pm European starts Just think how exciting the race would have been other wise!

LionZoo · Post by **LionZoo** » 27 May 2012, 14:42

tc3j3r wrote:The person who forced Monaco to abandon its traditional 3:30 start to fall in line with the other 2pm European starts Just think how exciting the race would have been other wise!

1996 all over again?

Post by **Ataxia** » 27 May 2012, 14:43

Must just add a special mention to the weather forecasters - you made Michael Fish seem like Nostradamus.

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 27 May 2012, 14:44

Me for missing the race. :oops:

Dan B · Post by **Dan B** » 27 May 2012, 15:06

Sauber: Perez was unlucky, Kobayashi was anonymous before he retired.
Toro Rosso: Ya blew it.
Jenson Button: Ya blew it as well. And how do you not get passed that wheelbarrow of a Caterham? Seriously. David Coulthard got passed the Arrows of Enrique Bernoldi so it's possible.

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 27 May 2012, 15:08

Vergne did a very early pitstop - it was conceivable that his tyres were shot at that point. I don't think he was losing that much time because of degradation, but looking at his lap times it seems that the combination of worn tyres + damp track was making him lose much more time than the other drivers, which seems logical. The team probably concluded that he was going to lose the points anyway, and decided to risk with a switch to intermediates, taking in account the fact that there was a huge gap between Senna and Kovalainen.

Therefore I must nominate Pastor Maldonado for ROTR.

Post by **Londoner** » 27 May 2012, 15:19

My nominations

The Reverend - Rarely has there been such a massive fall from hero to zero, but he managed it.
GRSSSJJNNN - That move was never gonna work in a month of Sundays. Posibly pissed away a hatful of points because of it.
Everyone that is saying that Monaco shouldn't be on the calendar because of this race - Go sit in the corner and think about what you just said. :evil:

But ROTR has to go to:

Jenson Button, for morphing into Bunsen Jetton this weekend. What are you doing Jense?!

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 27 May 2012, 15:21

Toro Rosso http://youtu.be/m5RtlpXsl8k

Rusujuur · Post by **Rusujuur** » 27 May 2012, 15:39

My two cents go to Lotus as a team because they made the most mistakes. 1) Räikkönen missing P1 again, couldn't he just suck it up and have them make the changes between sessions? He was rather slow in all sessions this weekend, so not a good performance. 2) Grojean qualifies well and then doesn't see the end of lap 1 again, 50% crash rate these days means you will not be very high in the ponts come Brazil. 3) Strategy messed up again, this has happened to some extent in every race, maybe some heads should start to roll?. Anyways, 2 points to a team that was expected to score at least in the 30s.

Honorable mentions to Button and Reverend

AJ 37 · Post by **AJ 37** » 27 May 2012, 15:41

1) Button: a rubbish week-end, nuff said.
2) Maldonado: Two weeks ago, it was seventh heaven for him, a dream come true. Now back to reality with a crash

HM: Grosjean: well, we're at Monaco, and a GP here without a collision at Ste. Devote in the first lap is not worthy to be considered, the thing is it's not the first time for him to be involved in those types of skirmish this year.
Weather: Rain would have made this race more eventful, but sadly...
Toro Rosso strategists: destroyed a good place for Vergne, for a dubious strategy who failed in the end.

jackanderton · Post by **jackanderton** » 27 May 2012, 15:47

1) Pirelli - With tyre degradation needed to spice up a dry race, it never happened. We may as well have had Bridgestones back. Rubbish rubbish rubbish. Everyone should've had to stop at least twice.

2) Maldonado - How not to follow a Grand Prix win in almost epic clarity.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 27 May 2012, 15:50

Maldonado for not only going 'from Hero to Zero' but for causing that annoying bit of rhyme to be unleashed once more.

Button because the only thing missing from this weekend was the car-to-pit messages where he complains about how undriveable the car was.

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 27 May 2012, 16:12

jackanderton wrote:1) Pirelli - With tyre degradation needed to spice up a dry race, it never happened. We may as well have had Bridgestones back. Rubbish rubbish rubbish. Everyone should've had to stop at least twice.

And everyone had, actually. You can't ask Pirelli to make Monaco wider.

At some point the leaders were lapping on 1:19s while Pérez was doing 1:17. If it was any other track they would have pitted again, but here you need to be massively faster to overtake and even then it is a risk to try.

Sunshine_Baby_[IT] · Post by **Sunshine_Baby_[IT]** » 27 May 2012, 16:34

Button: no explaination needed.
Grosjean: horrible start.

Collieafc · Post by **Collieafc** » 27 May 2012, 17:30

Maldonado - for a textbook example of race weekend ineptitude

Dishonourable mentions for:
Jenson Button - Bad quali and stuck behind Heikki
Grosjean - Another race ending start
Schumachers Mercedes - yet another DNF because of factors outwith his control
The rain - for being slower than HRT
DRS & KERS - Not even that can add overtaking to Monaco

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 27 May 2012, 17:44

Ferrim wrote: You can't ask Pirelli to make Monaco wider.

Perhaps someone should, as exciting as the end of the race was I dont think any of the top 5 were really considering an overtake.

I know, I know, Monaco, blah-blah, bicycle round living room, historic, blah-blah, jewel in F1s crown, etc etc. But the first corner after the tunnel is far too acute, there didnt look like room for two cars at all so why not loosen it off and it could be an overtaking spot again?

So my third and non-contention nomination would be the circuit designers of today.

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 27 May 2012, 17:46

Myself for booking an anniversary holiday with the wife for the busiest weekend of motorsport of the year, and forgetting to record a thing.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 27 May 2012, 18:01

I can't give it to Maldonado just for the race, as that kind of thing happens quite a lot at Monaco on Lap 1 with an accident going on ahead to be honest.
Nor can I give it to Vergne - he was going to have to pit again as his first stop was early, so they may as well have gambled!

So then -

1) McLaren - What the hell is going on? Button seemed lacklustre and the strategy didn't work when Red Bull made it work for Vettel (OK, he was further up the grid, but still) and Hamilton losing places to Alonso and Vettel on strategy is pretty poor too.

2) Grosjean - I still can't work out what he was actually trying to do. Barging Alonso off on the run-down to the first corner and then causing a stupid accident is not a great idea.

Post by **Nuppiz** » 27 May 2012, 18:07

3. Rain predictions - "It will rain in 10 minutes. It will rain in 4 minutes. It will rain on lap 36. Possible heavy rain in the next 20 minutes. Possible heavy rain at the end of the race". And there was only a very slight drizzle at all.

2. Pastor "Monaco Expert" Maldonado - From Barcelona hero to Monaco zero. Spent most of the weekend crashing.

1. Jenson Button - another awful qualifying, then stuck in 13th behind Kovalainen and eventually puncturing his tire in the process. Oh and also for claiming that "Kovalainen pushed me into the wall" over the radio at one point. Dude, it was a pretty desperate lunge from you to begin with, and Kovy hardly changed his line into the chicane. And you didn't hit the wall either.

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 27 May 2012, 18:47

Can't really think of anyone to say who hasn't already. The obvious ones being Maldonado and Button.

Priceless · Post by **Priceless** » 27 May 2012, 19:43

3rd: Lotus GP - high hopes were pinned on them, only for Grrrjnnn to crash out on the first corner, and Räikkönen to be slow all time.
2nd: Pastor Maldonado - for the litany of crashes, the 10-place penalty for the move on Pérez in free practice, and crashing out of the race on the first corner...
1st: Jenson Button - It's not everyday that you see a McLaren being beaten by a Caterham on merit. Was awful all weekend, and his spinning out of the race on a desperate move on Kovalainen showed.

Post by **mario** » 27 May 2012, 20:53

CoopsII wrote:
Ferrim wrote: You can't ask Pirelli to make Monaco wider.

Perhaps someone should, as exciting as the end of the race was I dont think any of the top 5 were really considering an overtake.

I know, I know, Monaco, blah-blah, bicycle round living room, historic, blah-blah, jewel in F1s crown, etc etc. But the first corner after the tunnel is far too acute, there didnt look like room for two cars at all so why not loosen it off and it could be an overtaking spot again?

So my third and non-contention nomination would be the circuit designers of today.

If they were going to try to widen the circuit, how could they do that? Asides from the fact that you are limited to the width of your average road (which is normally narrower than your average circuit anyway) due to the nature of the circuit, you also have to take into account the fact that pushing the barriers back would restrict the amount of room available for the marshals and recovery equipment. True, there may be a couple of places where it might be possible to widen the circuit, but you are still fairly limited in terms of what you can do given the limited amount of room available.