Your Reject of the Race - Abu Dhabi!

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 29 Oct 2009, 12:46

The cars have barely been unloaded, and already everyone is falling all over themselves to be declared this weekend's Reject of the Race! Since the championship is settled and the only people who are still battling for position are Vettel and Barrichello in the drivers' championship and McLaren and Ferrari in the constructors', I guess Reject of the Race is the only thing they can be competing in.

First up is the journalists who kept asking Nico Rosberg stupid questions. Rosberg has confirmed he will not be racing for Williams in 2010 and that he wanted to wait before announcing his futue plans, yet the journalists in the press conference kept asking him what he was going to do, when he was going to announce it and why he was holding off, even after he made it clear he didn't want to talk about it.

And secondly is Jarno Trulli who apparently cannot get over Brazil. He showed up at the press session with the drivers, brining photos that supposedly proved he was alongside Adrian Sutil at the time of their first-lap altercation in Brazil. Alonso and Raikkonen were apparently openly laughing at this. Jarno, just because you're alongside someone doesn't mean you're past them. Especially when the stewards rule it a racing incident and everyone else agrees with them.

fjackdaw · Post by **fjackdaw** » 29 Oct 2009, 12:57

Captain Hammer wrote:The cars have barely been unloaded, and already everyone is falling all over themselves to be declared this weekend's Reject of the Race! Since the championship is settled and the only people who are still battling for position are Vettel and Barrichello in the drivers' championship and McLaren and Ferrari in the constructors', I guess Reject of the Race is the only thing they can be competing in.

First up is the journalists who kept asking Nico Rosberg stupid questions. Rosberg has confirmed he will not be racing for Williams in 2010 and that he wanted to wait before announcing his futue plans, yet the journalists in the press conference kept asking him what he was going to do, when he was going to announce it and why he was holding off, even after he made it clear he didn't want to talk about it.

And secondly is Jarno Trulli who apparently cannot get over Brazil. He showed up at the press session with the drivers, brining photos that supposedly proved he was alongside Adrian Sutil at the time of their first-lap altercation in Brazil. Alonso and Raikkonen were apparently openly laughing at this. Jarno, just because you're alongside someone doesn't mean you're past them. Especially when the stewards rule it a racing incident and everyone else agrees with them.

Is Jarno talking himself out of a drive, I wonder? It's the end of the season, teams are looking around for experienced drivers to fill their slots, and Jarno is acting like a crybaby and annoying everyone. Be a man about it, JT. More respect.

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 29 Oct 2009, 15:38

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79824

Trulli's 'freaking out'. Leave Adrian alone! Leave him alone! I'm serious!

Debaser · Post by **Debaser** » 29 Oct 2009, 16:05

My eight year old niece isn't as childish at Trulli is- and she yanks the controller out of my hand in frustration when I beat her on the Nintendo Wii. He should stop making an ass out of himself and find a drive for next year, I mean bringing photos with him to make an unnecessary and incorrect point??? Come on.

johnston21 · Post by **johnston21** » 29 Oct 2009, 16:08

Will be interesting to learn what was said in tomorrow's Driver Meeting regarding this.

Even though it was ruled as a racing incident, Jarno has many years experience, and I don't see him as not excepting responsibility for his actions. I watched the race, and have seen the replays. If anything, from today's noted conversation in the Press Conference, it would appear that Adrian is no longer taking responsibility for "pushing" Jarno on to (over) the Kerbs.

Yes, Jarno gets excited, but remember he's Italian (not that it is in anyway bad).

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 29 Oct 2009, 16:25

About Trulli, I'd say his pride is taking over his common sense; I'm sure everyone of us have experienced similar situations (at least me

)

And about the ROTR...I'll say Nakajima...he has a bleak future at Williams and he has yet to score a point...all in a new circuit...let's see if he gets unleashed

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 29 Oct 2009, 21:54

Why is Jarno so keen on keeping in the public eye the topic of how his Brazilian GP ended? He has already got one award for it, he is not going to get another.

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » 29 Oct 2009, 23:10

Yannick wrote:Why is Jarno so keen on keeping in the public eye the topic of how his Brazilian GP ended? He has already got one award for it, he is not going to get another.

He wants to absolve himself so he can get a new ride?

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and give reject of the race to the Yas Marina Circuit

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 29 Oct 2009, 23:15

I'm going for Trulli for ROTR. He isn't taking the wisest course of action. He should use his racing to attract attention.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 30 Oct 2009, 00:10

I'll reserve judgement for ROTR until after the race, but Trulli is certainly going the right way for becoming the first back-to-back recipient of the award.

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 30 Oct 2009, 02:17

Religious tolerance... where's Chanoch Nissany?

bigslydoc · Post by **bigslydoc** » 30 Oct 2009, 04:59

Jeso, Jarno! What is he on!! He has clearly gone crazy. It's plain for anyone with half a brain a out F1 to see that you don't put your car where he did! On the outside of another car slowed by an accident going into that left hand corner and trying to pass him. There is only one thing that will happen. They to cry on about it like Sutil slept with his wife is ridiculous. Jarno Trulli just elevated himself into the running for reject of the year I think for this one.

Reject of the race in Abu Dhabi? My money is on Kamui Kobayashi. After such an amazing race in Brazil, the only thing for a promising young Japanese driver like him to do is to totally mess it all up. I'm thinking Takuma Sato versus Nick Heidfeld's sidepod kind of a screw up!

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 30 Oct 2009, 10:46

I agree that Cowboy's a good bet but it was Heidfeld who hit Sato, not the other way around.

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 31 Oct 2009, 01:06

After FP1 and 2, I nominate Ferrari for yet another un-Ferrari-like - and dare I say it, very Italian - performance. After spending most of FP2 in 18th and 19th (and only because Robert Kubica's engine gave up), Raikkonen made a last-minute push and gave it his all ... to wind up tenth.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 31 Oct 2009, 13:24

So far, so Alonso. Out in Q1...

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 31 Oct 2009, 15:45

Out of qualifying, it hasa to be Ferrari. They've gifted McLaren 3rd in the Constructors and Hamilton 5th in the Drivers.

watka · Post by **watka** » 31 Oct 2009, 16:25

At the moment, it's Kovalainen for me. He was quick in free practice but was again struggling against Hamilton. It will be interesting to see if the McLaren no. 2 next season (however that may be) will be able to match Hamilton, maybe Hamilton is just that one step above everyone else.

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 31 Oct 2009, 16:53

Today's qualifying has shown some drivers making bids for the award already.

Fernando Alonso, the double-WDC, was out in Q3, just as was his teammate RMN GRSJN, who must have had the highest number of spins all weekend. That's the back end of the field for Renault, where they join

Force India: Liuzzi outqualifying Sutil is nice for him, but it's not worth much when it comes at a track where their Mercedes power and low downforce should have been somewhat beneficial. Add to that the expectations that have risen during the last month. It almost looks like they are back where they used to be.

Giancarlo Fisichella has proven today that Luca Badoer's performance at Valencia, which is a similar track to the Yas Marina Circuit, was not down to driver ability (well, maybe Luca's speeding issues were) but instead, that the car is incredibly hard to drive when on a track where KERS is of the essence. Raikkonen's qualifying, in comparison, has clearly shown that Ferrari have indeed halted the development of this season's challenger after Hungary - a fact that cannot have been beneficial to either replacement driver - and given the testing restrictions, might prove unwise, since they didn't use the chance of trying out parts for next year's car already during the latter stages of a subpar season.

Kovalainen showed in free practise that he got what it takes, but what did he do? Stall it. This is definitely below the expectations. I wonder where will he go to. Manor? His F1 career appears so Stefan-Johanssonesque at the time.

edit: At the time of writing, I had no idea that Kovalainen's off was due to gearbox troubles ... my bad ... thank you mario for the info.

Post by **mario** » 31 Oct 2009, 17:27

Well, to be fair Yannick, the reject award should go to Heikki's gearbox - according to post race interviews, he got stuck in 2nd gear, and will be taking a 5 place penalty.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79911

For me, it's Renault who are making an early bid to win the Reject award this time around. A shocking performance (16th and 19th, before Heikki's penalty kicks in), no grip, no idea which way to go on the set up - sums up their performance this season, doesn't it? And to cap it off, there was this classic line from Brundle (which I might pinch as a signature) on watching a replay of Grosjean spinning:
"The problem with Grosjean is that he want to take a look back at the corner he's just exited in every session."

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 31 Oct 2009, 21:39

Renault for obvious reasons. If Alonso can't get out of Q1, there is something seriously wrong with that car.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 31 Oct 2009, 22:31

I wonder if Renault have decided to give up on 2009 like Ferrari have, and concentrate on 2010.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 31 Oct 2009, 22:34

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:I wonder if Renault have decided to give up on 2009 like Ferrari have, and concentrate on 2010.

They have, about a couple of races later. Still no excuse.

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 31 Oct 2009, 22:57

CarlosFerreira wrote:
BlindCaveSalamander wrote:I wonder if Renault have decided to give up on 2009 like Ferrari have, and concentrate on 2010.

They have, about a couple of races later. Still no excuse.

No excuse for their whole season really. Can't remember anything positive about it (I'm not counting pole at Hungary 'cos they messed that up pathetically).

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 31 Oct 2009, 23:06

shinji wrote:
CarlosFerreira wrote:
BlindCaveSalamander wrote:I wonder if Renault have decided to give up on 2009 like Ferrari have, and concentrate on 2010.

They have, about a couple of races later. Still no excuse.

No excuse for their whole season really. Can't remember anything positive about it (I'm not counting pole at Hungary 'cos they messed that up pathetically).

Oh, sure. As I said, still no excuse.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 31 Oct 2009, 23:28

kostas22 wrote:Renault for obvious reasons. If Alonso can't get out of Q1, there is something seriously wrong with that car.

Yeah, If Renault get ROTR this weekend, it won't surprise me one bit.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 01 Nov 2009, 02:01

Renault and Giancarlo Fisichella are so far the clear candidates for ROTR

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 01 Nov 2009, 04:14

Fernando Alonso - for a double World Champion, Ferrari's latest draft pick and infamous for his extra 0.6 seconds a lap, he seemed quite content to bow out of qualifying after the first session because he wholly expected to. Come on Fernando, you aren't going to get title number three with that attitude.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 01 Nov 2009, 08:33

I'm going on a limb and nominating the battle for first place, because it's Hamilton's (or as I like to call him, Waaaaahmilton) race to lose.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 01 Nov 2009, 10:05

Wizzie wrote:Renault and Giancarlo Fisichella are so far the clear candidates for ROTR

Why Fisichella? He's not being any slower or further back than usual. If ROTR is someone who is surprisingly bad, does Fisico fit the description?

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 01 Nov 2009, 11:01

Cynon wrote:(or as I like to call him, Waaaaahmilton) race to lose.

It should be WHAMilton, like WHAMbulance.

The Monza Gorilla · Post by **The Monza Gorilla** » 01 Nov 2009, 12:31

I'll go with Kovalainen, he's developed a gift of being quite fast in the early parts of the weekend then steadily working his way backwards. Okay he had the gearbox issue in Q2, but even then he just seemed off the pace a bit, in what looks to be by far the best car on track this weekend. Sadly his promising days at Renault and early McLaren seem a long time ago.
Though i'm still inclined to believe Jarno will do something magnificently stupid before the race is over.

bigslydoc · Post by **bigslydoc** » 01 Nov 2009, 12:46

shinji wrote:...it was Heidfeld who hit Sato, not the other way around.

Quite true. Many apologies.

A joint Renault / Ferrari award now seems most likely. Both have been painfully slow this weekend so far. Raikkonen getting there car where he did this weekend seems if anything to highlight how well he is driving at the moment.

tristan1117 · Post by **tristan1117** » 01 Nov 2009, 13:40

Alguersauri... :lol:

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 01 Nov 2009, 14:44

Abu Dhabi circuit - Another disneyworld track, much lust, enough competition.

Henrique · Post by **Henrique** » 01 Nov 2009, 14:47

Here are my picks:

Fisichella - For being so Badoer during the whole weekend. He even broke the pit lane speed limit! He said he's pondering a return to Force India, which puts a nail in the coffin.

Alguersuari - Sure, the Red Bull and STR pit crews are very similar, but it's not the first time there are similar pit crews in the pit lane. I doubt Life or Scuderia Italia drivers ever entered the Ferrari pit by mistake.

LionZoo · Post by **LionZoo** » 01 Nov 2009, 14:51

The Monza Gorilla wrote:Though i'm still inclined to believe Jarno will do something magnificently stupid before the race is over.

Does being beaten by his rookie teammate who has all of two F1 races count? I was watching the timing and after his second stop when he found himself behind Kobayashi, he started to push like hell. However, if he had kept up that level of driving during the entire race that situation would've never happened.

Warren Hughes · Post by **Warren Hughes** » 01 Nov 2009, 14:56

Alguersuari. I'm sorry, but you can't try to stop at the wrong box and not get ROTR

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 01 Nov 2009, 14:58

Giancarlo Fisichella - as far as last hurrahs go, that one was fairly anonymous. Certainly not the way you'd want to be remembered in what could well be your final race.

Lewis Hamilton's brakes - ended what could have been a good fight. Fortunately, Jenson Button decided to have a go.

Ferrari's hopes of third place overall - were never going to happen. Then Hamilton dropped out, and Ferrari still didn't happen.

Pit-lane nay-sayers - so, where was that expectd altercation with the wall again?

Yahoo 7 - made my heart skip a beat when it listed Channel Ten as playing three episodes of Sex and the City instead of the race.

Henrique wrote:Alguersuari - Sure, the Red Bull and STR pit crews are very similar, but it's not the first time there are similar pit crews in the pit lane. I doubt Life or Scuderia Italia drivers ever entered the Ferrari pit by mistake.

Going by Alguersuari's comments, he was ready, but Toro Rosso weren't. His pit is right next to Red Bull's and he was expecting them to be ready for him, so it was an easy enough mistake to make. Plus, he was already in trouble when he came in - his in-lap was way off the pace.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 01 Nov 2009, 15:04

God, I just realised Williams dropped to 7th in the Constructors' Championship. Yeah, Nakajima really was way off the pace.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 01 Nov 2009, 15:29

Trulli for beaing beaten by his rookie team-mate. Even Buemi, a rookie himself, didn't succumb to that!

Alguersuari for entering the wrong pit box, then leaving the pit lane only to retire with a broken gearbox on his outlap!