Chinese GP ROTR

[DidNotQualify]

Another nomination for Mark Webber's weekend. Should Our Great Overlords see fit to honour me by choosing this as the official ROTR, that's 1/3 nomination for Mark himself (for the Vergne incident) and 2/3 to Red Bull (for the fuel error and the escaping wheel).

Dishonourable mention to Esteban Gutierrez for that crash.

[KL-racer]

My ROTR goes to Red bull for the fuel error on webber's car during Q2 and the loose wheel during the race.

Dishonourable mention to Esteban Gutierrez, because after all he did made a typical rookie mistake by braking too late and locking up the front tires.

[Backmarker]

I'll nominate Mark Webber, for failing to notice Jean-Éric Vergne (or did notice him and somehow mistook the Toro Rosso for Vettel).

[UncreativeUsername37]

Gutiérrez, I guess. Sure, Red Bull had mechanical issues, but that's what we expect (and even sometimes want) from them.

[Boomstick]

Webber, freaked out with Seb behind him, pulled a desperate move and well...there you have it!

[go_Rubens]

That may have to be my Sig

It may have to be mine. Out of all the sigs I've had, that seems to be one to keep for me. I praise your idea.

[wsrgo]

Reject of the Race goes to:
Mark Webber and his weekend where he spent more time waving to fans than on track,
Romain Grosjean for being miles behind his teammate whose nose looked like it had been clipped by Mike Tyson.

Dishonourable mentions to:
Felipe Massa: Must learn that points are earned on Sunday.
Esteban Gutierrez: Each car must have "Brake Please" written on the back of their car for him.
Sergio Perez: Honestly, he was lucky to escape a penalty for a double weave against Alonso. Not to mention his overall pace, nowhere close to Button. Is he the next Michael Andretti?

[CoopsII]

My ROTR goes to the Williams team for allowing the BBC to make that bloody awful 'Driven - The Fastest Woman In The World' program that was on last night. A pointless attempt to portray Wolff as some sort of Senna-esque heroine complete with interviews with among others, er, Ralf Schumacher.

[wsrgo]

My ROTR goes to the Williams team for allowing the BBC to make that bloody awful 'Driven - The Fastest Woman In The World' program that was on last night. A pointless attempt to portray Wolff as some sort of Senna-esque heroine complete with interviews with among others, er, Ralf Schumacher.

The one name that ended it, made it the funniest...

I heard his wife left him..

[IceG]

I'm going to go against the flow here.

I nominate DRS.

Firstly, for the fact that the FIA still cannot get it working properly, ending up in the farcical situation that (a) it was being used under yellow flag conditions and (b) they can not punish the drivers who so used it because they had not followed the protocol to inform the drivers tthat it was 'disabled'. Those element in themselves highlight the farcical nature of a performance-related technology which is not totally confined to the race-car. The technology should have been disabled for the whole race if the FIA end of things was not working reliably - i.e. it should have been black-flagged! Same for the past two races - how long does it take to solve the problem in the highest technology sport on the planet?

Secondly, for the selection of the DRS zones and the way they made over-taking just so easy (e.g. Alonso and Massa on Hamilton at the end of the start/finish straight) moved the emphasis from good defensive/aggressive driving to a wait-until-the-DRS-zone game. Reminded me of Abu Dhabi (2012 or 2011 - I'm old) where the game was: let them overtake in DRS zone 1 and get it back in DRS zone 2.

Kudos to Alonso though who worked out how to use it not for the overtake but to use it to put distance between himself and the car overtaken - brilliant.

[DanielPT]

I will go for Webber's famous wretched luck, or absence of it, which came back in full force. Also, Gutierrez for being rejectful all around.

[madmark1974]

I agree with what mario and wsrgo have already mentioned - 'No. 2 drivers' (for the top teams at least) :

Mark Webber - I think enough has been said about his race, just when it looked as if he might salvage a decent finish despite all the team problems, he comes across JEV ... which indirectly leads to his retirement.
Felipe Massa - finished, what 40 seconds behind Alonso, when he has right behind him before the first stops, so say 50 laps on the hard tyre, thats 40/50 = 0.8 seconds a lap slower on average the whole race.
Romain Grosjean - Pretty much the same gap to Kimi as Massa/Alonso, so equally as poor.
Sergio Perez - currently 14th in the WCC, beaten by the Hulk in his old team for the 2nd race in a row, and despite running a conservative race strategy, was over agressive defending early on. Learn from Jenson ...

Failing that, Williams were nowhere, even STR seem to be getting in on the action at the moment, whilst Williams seem to be the worst of the midfield runners by a fair margin. That's more specific to the season
so far than to this race though. Likewise GUT, who had to do something to get noticed I guess ...

[Benetton]

1. Esteban Gutierrez - Got solidly outdriven by his teammate and made a mistake that ruined Sutil's race.

2. Sergio Perez - While I don't blame him entirely over the crash with Raikkonen (Kimi did put himself in a very vulnerable position); Checo was still all over the place, and had no pace compared to Jenson.

[QuickYoda41]

It must be Gutierrez, typical reject moment from him

[Ed24]

Gutierrez I think for a poor qualifying and a silly mistake. It's fair enough that he said before Melbourne he wanted to be conservative and ease into F1 but now with poor pace and mistakes it's not a good sign.

[James1978]

All the top 6 teams' second drivers (save possibly Rosberg) are in there with a shout to be honest. (Counting Sauber at the 6th team based on car numbers).

Honourable mentions for Pirelli for making their soft tyres made of sawdust, and the DRS zones for making passing for too easy - we just want overtaking to be possible, not for it impossible to defend!!

[NAM]

I'm going for Pastor Maldonado. It's Bottas 3x0 Maldonado at the moment but this time Bottas beat him because Maldonado was simply slow.

[Salamander]

I'm going for Pastor Maldonado. It's Bottas 3x0 Maldonado at the moment but this time Bottas beat him because Maldonado was simply slow.

And this is more rejectful than Gutierrez forgetting how to use brakes.... how, exactly? I mean, Maldonado didn't even hit anything this weekend!

[johnnyCarwash]

I'm going for Pastor Maldonado. It's Bottas 3x0 Maldonado at the moment but this time Bottas beat him because Maldonado was simply slow.

And this is more rejectful than Gutierrez forgetting how to use brakes.... how, exactly? I mean, Maldonado didn't even hit anything this weekend!

Or visit a sandtrap

[CarlosFerreira]

I'm going for Pastor Maldonado. It's Bottas 3x0 Maldonado at the moment but this time Bottas beat him because Maldonado was simply slow.

And this is more rejectful than Gutierrez forgetting how to use brakes.... how, exactly? I mean, Maldonado didn't even hit anything this weekend!

Because Gutierrez was in his third race, while Maldonado is in his third season.

[TomWazzleshaw]

I'm going for Pastor Maldonado. It's Bottas 3x0 Maldonado at the moment but this time Bottas beat him because Maldonado was simply slow.

And this is more rejectful than Gutierrez forgetting how to use brakes.... how, exactly? I mean, Maldonado didn't even hit anything this weekend!

Because Gutierrez was in his third race, while Maldonado is in his third season.

We'll give him that. But even so that's more an early ROTY nomination for Maldonado because, as Salamander said, it wasn't exactly rejectful by Maldonado standards. But it was a pretty pathetic showing regardless.

[Sublime_FA11C]

Webber. His campaign is pretty much in the toilet, if the past is anything to go by. Not his fault though, but he ends up with the damage, and his was the most rejectfull race weekend.

You'd expect a rookie to screw up in a chaotic braking zone. And he made 0 excuses which is at least nice of him.

[eytl]

It's official decision time, in case you haven't already heard it on the podcast.

But yes, a unanimous decision (i.e. Jamie and I agreed on the spot) to give it to Esteban Gutierrez. Rookie inexperience notwithstanding.

It seems like assaults from behind in Shanghai on someone unsuspecting seems to go hand-in-hand with Adrian Sutil. (*gasp* Did I really just say that aloud? ) Except the roles were reversed this time!

[tzerof1]

It seems like assaults from behind in Shanghai on someone unsuspecting seems to go hand-in-hand with Adrian Sutil. (*gasp* Did I really just say that aloud? ) Except the roles were reversed this time!

Sounds like something one would find on The F1 Slate!

[good_Ralf]

My ROTR goes to the Williams team for allowing the BBC to make that bloody awful 'Driven - The Fastest Woman In The World' program that was on last night. A pointless attempt to portray Wolff as some sort of Senna-esque heroine complete with interviews with among others, er, Ralf Schumacher.

The one name that ended it, made it the funniest...

I heard his wife left him..

I think you're right. When I was typing up Ralf Schumacher on Google, one of the search options said 'ralf schumacher divorce'

[takagi_for_the_win]

I think you're right. When I was typing up Ralf Schumacher on Google, one of the search options said 'ralf schumacher divorce'

Was it worth dragging up a 3 month old thread for THAT? I mean, really?

[shinji]

I think you're right. When I was typing up Ralf Schumacher on Google, one of the search options said 'ralf schumacher divorce'

Was it worth dragging up a 3 month old thread for THAT? I mean, really?

Anything for a post.

[Salamander]

I think you're right. When I was typing up Ralf Schumacher on Google, one of the search options said 'ralf schumacher divorce'

Was it worth dragging up a 3 month old thread for THAT? I mean, really?

Anything for a post.

Yeah, it's the most important thing there is, don't you know.

[roblo97]

It's more important than my next breath

[Salamander]

It's more important than my next breath

[Ataxia]

Postcounts: it's like heroin for kids.

[roblo97]

Postcounts: it's like hash cake for kids.

Fixed

[Ataxia]

Postcounts: it's like hash cake for kids.

Fixed

Nope, not even close. You've completely missed the point.

The point is, we continue to tell "the younger members of the forum" that posting for the sake of post count is an incredibly silly and wasteful thing to do. And it looks like I'm doing it again. Yet it's like they've developed an addiction to doing it; they can't help themselves with these "+1" or "Fixed" posts that, half the time, bring absolutely nothing to the discussion. Hence the "heroin" metaphor.

So, either you're providing a perfect example of trying to boost your postcount meaninglessly, or the drugs brochures your school's been handing out have been written by the Westboro Baptist Church.

[roblo97]

Postcounts: it's like hash cake for kids.

Fixed

Nope, not even close. You've completely missed the point.

The point is, we continue to tell "the younger members of the forum" that posting for the sake of post count is an incredibly silly and wasteful thing to do. And it looks like I'm doing it again. Yet it's like they've developed an addiction to doing it; they can't help themselves with these "+1" or "Fixed" posts that, half the time, bring absolutely nothing to the discussion. Hence the "heroin" metaphor.

So, either you're providing a perfect example of trying to boost your postcount meaninglessly, or the drugs brochures your school's been handing out have been written by the Westboro Baptist Church.

Oh I see. I also never got a drugs brochure at my old school, ever although life skills spent more time tesco ing my year sex education instead…

[shinji]

Postcounts: it's like hash cake for kids.

Fixed

Nope, not even close. You've completely missed the point.

The point is, we continue to tell "the younger members of the forum" that posting for the sake of post count is an incredibly silly and wasteful thing to do. And it looks like I'm doing it again. Yet it's like they've developed an addiction to doing it; they can't help themselves with these "+1" or "Fixed" posts that, half the time, bring absolutely nothing to the discussion. Hence the "heroin" metaphor.

So, either you're providing a perfect example of trying to boost your postcount meaninglessly, or the drugs brochures your school's been handing out have been written by the Westboro Baptist Church.

+1