2014 Shell Belgian GP Reject Of The Race Thread

[roblo97]

Reject of the race thread nominations here.

Hamilton: clumsy collision with Rosberg at the start ruined a potential win.
Marussia's driver merry go round gets a mention from me as well.

List of nominees!

Lewis Hamilton and his fanbase
Marussia's driver merry go round
Lotus
Felipe Massa
Sebastian Vettel
Nicki Lauda
Toto Wolf
Boo-boys
Mercedes
Rosberg's move
Alonso's car
Hyped drivers (Rossi and Lotterer)
Marussia and Caterham
TV director
Force India
The bit of Kevlar attached to Rosberg's radio antenna
The stewards
The new F1 penalty system
Twitter and mainstream sites posting tweets
The Crowd
Ferrari mechanics
Sky F1
Marcus Eriksson
Pastor Maldonado
Lewistera

And the winner is...

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg

[Valrys]

Can't blame Hamilton for that - Rosberg should have backed out, but it was clumsy rather than malicious or stupid.

[noiceinmydrink]

Lewis Hamilton wins by default for totally contradicting all that "#nevergiveup" bollocks he always goes on about.

[roblo97]

Lewis Hamilton wins by default for totally contradicting all that "#nevergiveup" bollocks he always goes on about.

Well said!

[good_Ralf]

Sebastian Vettel deserves an ROTR. Was ahead of Ricciardo on the grid, but no, he had to lose out yet again. Ricciardo continues to win races from further back, while Vettel falls back from good starting positions (I admit in Hungary he was unlucky). Plus he is still yet to lead a single lap in 2014!!!

Felipe Massa: You're not helping Williams' cause dude. Bottas has scored 55 of the team's 65 points in the last 4 races. Barring a car problem, you failed miserably.

I may as well join the Hamilton hate bandwagon, but I'm not sure if he caused the collision with Rosberg. Looked 50-50 to me, but he should be a candidate if was it was his fault. Not as deserving as Massa or Vettel etc. IMO.

[Miguel98]

Felipe Massa:
Felipe, why? Just ahead of the Saubers in a circuit where the track suits you. Clear RoTR if this didn't happen...

Lewis Hamilton/Nicki Lauda:
"Retire me pls"... Hamilton showed today that he doesn't seem to be worthy WC this year.. He gave up, a champion never gives up. Or even, a driver never gives up. For Lauda, blaiming Rosberg will do wonders to the team... Ricky World Champion please.

[Ataxia]

The boo-boys. Easily the worst side of the sport; shows the lack of maturity from some fans.

[went]

Massa. Bottas is really, really making it clear he should retire already.

[roblo97]

Should I put a list of everyone nominated so far in the original post?

[Dj_bereta]

Guys, some part of Hamilton's tyre got stuck in Massa's car. In this time isn't his fault. He doesn't deserve the nomination.

IF Magnussen gets some punishment, I'm going to give it for stewards. Rosberg did way worse and nothing happened. Also, Alonso's penalty was too soft (not his fault, although). TV Directors deserves a mention too, for showing only the top 6 for the entire race and the race control, for not calling the safety car when the track was full of debris.

[mario]

Can't blame Hamilton for that - Rosberg should have backed out, but it was clumsy rather than malicious or stupid.

I'd agree that it was an incident where it looked like Rosberg was perhaps a little optimistic - if you compare to the successful moves that were made into that corner later in the race, most of the other drivers were much further alongside the driver in front than Rosberg was - but certainly not malicious.

Massa. Bottas is really, really making it clear he should retire already.

Massa certainly was a long way off Bottas there, although there were some indications during the race that his car might have been damaged during the race by some flying debris.

However, to my mind there is a far clearer nominee - it has to be whoever it was at Ferrari who ordered the mechanics back onto the track with other cars driving past Alonso. The whole point of the 15 second warning is to protect the mechanics because mechanics have been injured or killed by unaware drivers running them down in the past - to order mechanics back onto a live racetrack in a situation where they could be run down is, frankly, reckless.
Brundle is right that Ferrari were very fortunate to be given such a light penalty in the circumstances - frankly, they deserve a far harsher penalty for that.

[Londoner]

Lotus - I reckon they've given up on this season.
Felipe Massa - Oh dear me.
Mercedes - Textbook example of how to throw away a race.

But ROTR has to go to:

Lewis Hamilton and his fanbase - Lewis spent the entire race trying to get his car retired by the team, whilst his fanbase decided to crucify Rosberg for what was, in my view, a clear racing incident. And then the booing of Rosberg at the podium, disgusting.

[Valrys]

To be fair to Massa, his day was ruined by getting some debris in his car, ruining the handling - once they'd cleared it out, he was matching Bottas on pace (and I think has the faster race lap) but the damage was done.

[RAK]

Rosberg's move on Hamilton: I don't think it was malicious, but it was clumsy - and cost Mercedes a significant number of points and a win.

Alonso's car: Kept the mechanics working beyond a reasonable point.

People booing during the podium ceremony: A sad state of affairs and very immature, even if Rosberg had caused controversy.

Lewis Hamilton: Just gave up, trundled around near the back for the rest of the race.

Lotus: I doubt they'll remain in the sport for long.

[SeedStriker]

1)Petronas Mercedes: Nico's brain fade on lap 2, Hamilton's lack of everything, and the booed on the podium just add salt into the injury.

2)Felipe Massa: Bottas scored a podium while Felipe Baby was absent

Dishonorable mentions to Hyped Drivers(Rossi succumbed to TALENT's money and Lotterer went out earlier while Ericsson got to the flag), Marussia and Caterham (make the backmarker teams of the 90's look like the Top Teams)

The Why Should I Bother With This Award goes to Pastor Maldonado: Another weekend, another piece of his Lotus that left him stranded almost at the start

[noiceinmydrink]

The boo-boys. Easily the worst side of the sport; shows the lack of maturity from some fans.

I personally don't see what the problem is with the booing. People have opinions, and have the right to exercise them. Besides, don't we boo all the time? When we criticise a driver, that's exactly what we're doing. Whether we do it in front of a driver or not is irrelevant. My two cents.

[andrew2209]

TV Director:What happened to Lotterer and Maldonado? There were periods of a race a replay of their retirements wouldn't have detracted from the race coverage

[mario]

Guys, some part of Hamilton's tyre got stuck in Massa's car. In this time isn't his fault. He doesn't deserve the nomination.

IF Magnussen gets some punishment, I'm going to give it for stewards. Rosberg did way worse and nothing happened. Also, Alonso's penalty was too soft (not his fault, although). TV Directors deserves a mention too, for showing only the top 6 for the entire race and the race control, for not calling the safety car when the track was full of debris.

Was it from Hamilton's car or from Bianchi's car? It seems that Grosjean tagged Bianchi in the opening laps and punctured his tyre, so there was debris from his car scattered around the first sector as well (the fragment of the carcass that was caught on Rosberg's car seems to have come from that incident). Either way, the damage both of those drivers picked up left quite a bit of debris on the track - it was surprising that there was not even a yellow flag for debris on the racing line, when normally that would be the minimum you'd expect in those circumstances.

As for Magnussen, well, I'd agree that penalising him for his move in the chicane would be harsh, even if he was pushing his luck a bit with some of his stronger blocks - I'd argue that the way that he pushed Alonso onto the grass on the Kemmel straight probably would be more of a candidate for a penalty, but that seems to have been left out of the equation.

[sw3ishida]

Firstly, it's worth mentioning Felipe Massa. He may as well have been invisible with how irrelevant he was.

But, I think it has to beLewis Hamilton. His race performance is pushed aside by his terrible radio performance and constant whining to give up. It just really rubbed me the wrong way.

[Ben Gilbert]

The boo-boys. Easily the worst side of the sport; shows the lack of maturity from some fans.

I personally don't see what the problem is with the booing. People have opinions, and have the right to exercise them. Besides, don't we boo all the time? When we criticise a driver, that's exactly what we're doing. Whether we do it in front of a driver or not is irrelevant. My two cents.

And they also can be criticised for said opinions.

And no, the users of this forum don't 'boo' all the time. Making a reasoned argument, supported by evidence and commentary upon that evidence, is not quite the same as belching out a noise.

Lotus: For having an atrocious and utterly anonymous race.

[Salamander]

Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff get my nomination, for abandoning all pretense of trying to be professional and completely throwing Nico Rosberg under the bus on TV for all to see. That's far worse in my opinion than just being a biased moron. When Eddie Jordan, the biggest shite-stirrer in the paddock, has to be the voice of reason, you know something is wrong.

[SgtPepper]

Quite a few potential nominations today - Rosberg's clumsy move, Alonso's slightly scrappy race, Vettel's pathetic performance and once again getting outclassed, KMag's move on Alonso, Lotus' double retirement, but today I'm nominating booing.

Last year I completely endorsed it, as it was completely deserved. There was an atrocious sportsman dominating the sport in light of his machinery, and the F1 world was desperately out of touch - the booing was the one remaining connection left with an extremely unhappy fanbase. This year the cars are more road relevant, the racing is incredible, the field is mostly very close, and even now the championship remains a question mark. Rosberg made a clumsy mistake, but there is no way it was deliberate, and Rosberg has always been far more mature in press-interviews. In absolutely no way was that booing deserved.

[Ferrarist]

For me, it's definitely Mercedes. I wonder if they start to crack on the pressure...what pressure anyway? They still have the fastest car on the grid, but they have to manage the egos of two of the best drivers in the field. However, they can't afford to make any mistakes, because Red Bull, while not being as fast as Mercedes, can still be on the right place at the right time. There are 50 points up for grabs at Abu Dhabi, yet Ricciardo is only 64 points behind Rosberg. Another bad weekend or two, and Red Bull comes dangerouly close to pulling off a Kimi Raikkonen or Alain Prost, if you know what I mean .

[Shizuka]

Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff get my nomination, for abandoning all pretense of trying to be professional and completely throwing Nico Rosberg under the bus on TV for all to see. That's far worse in my opinion than just being a biased moron. When Eddie Jordan, the biggest shite-stirrer in the paddock, has to be the voice of reason, you know something is wrong.

Seconded.
I'd also give a dishonorable mention to the TV Director. Why didn't we see Maldonado and Lotterer retire?

[Ataxia]

The boo-boys. Easily the worst side of the sport; shows the lack of maturity from some fans.

I personally don't see what the problem is with the booing. People have opinions, and have the right to exercise them. Besides, don't we boo all the time? When we criticise a driver, that's exactly what we're doing. Whether we do it in front of a driver or not is irrelevant. My two cents.

People have opinions, yes. Whether or not they're well-reasoned opinions or opinions born out of frustration is the issue.

I cannot condone booing in any fashion. If you have an issue with something, you explain why and how in a respectful manner; you certainly don't make a loud, obnoxious noise to do so if you want people to take you seriously. That's what criticism is; the process of sharing in actual words what you think is wrong. Booing is nothing but a cacophony of animal-like behaviour that is not something that learned, intelligent people should be doing.

[Salamander]

Booing is nothing but a cacophony of animal-like behaviour that is not something that learned, intelligent people should be doing.

> Implying that the vast majority of Hamilton fans are learned, intelligent people

They're the F1 equivalent of Dale Jr fans.

[James1978]

Does nobody think Hamilton wanted to stop to save engine mileage when the next race is probably the one where it's most crucial to have a strong engine?

My nomination goes to Lotus. They've been overdue it for a while now.....

[takagi_for_the_win]

In the interests of fairness, Rosberg should be nominated for a clumsy collision that cost him a possible win.

Oh no wait, Hamilton was involved, grab the pitchforks!

Instead, I'll nominate Massa, for being useless

[James1978]

Massa got some tyre lodged in his bodywork. When luck's not going your way....

I'm actually going to give a DHM to Rosberg's engineer for pronouncing it "Ricky-ardo". Oops.

[good_Ralf]

Force India also deserve a mention for their continued fall from grace, at a track where they used to be fast. Now they've lost 5th to McLaren (at the same track as last year, ironically, also scoring just 2 points there), having been 2nd after Bahrain.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

And my nominations are:

Mercedes: This reminded me a bit of Turkey 2010 (although what happened in Turkey was more rejectful I think). Rosberg's move was clumsy and obviously compromised their race. Lauda and Wolff's treatment of the incident after the race was not very well handled and Hamilton gave up on the race entirely and even asked to retire the car, despite the fact that he actually could have just pulled into the pits on his own initiative.
Felipe Massa: Where was he?!
The bit of Kevlar attached to Rosberg's radio antenna: I don't think there's any need to comment on this one!
Booing: Sure, people were upset with Rosberg's move on Hamilton but this is just childish.

[TomPryce]

I don't blame Rosberg at all. I don't blame Lewis either. I think the incident has been overblown out of all proportion and it's absolutely tiresome.

In my mind, there can be no greater a reject than Seb today. I don't mind Vettel, but his attitude in his post-race interview just smacked of jealousy and indifference.

EDIT: MAGNUSSEN PENALISED. STEWARDS ARE THE NEW REJECTS.

[LukeB]

Hamilton wasn't responsible for what happened to him but he is responsible for his reaction to it, and while it may have made sense to retire and save the engine and while I understand how frustrated he must have felt it's not something you want to hear from a man that's challenging for the championship less then halfway through the race.

If you're against booing you might as well be against cheering too, they're 2 sides of the same coin.

[fjackdaw]

I don't know why people are still nominating Massa, when we've already established he had a car problem caused by debris.

The booing is my nomination - that's pretty sucky.

[andrew]

Now Hamilton has claimed that Rosberg said in the debrief that he deliberately hit Lewis to prove a point. If that is true (which I don't think it is) it is disgusting by Nico, but i suspect it is Hamilton making a bog deal out of stuff, this is all getting a bit silly and out of hand now

[pher38]

When you are at the grand prix and you see a man who caused a collision earlier in the race on the podium it is always going to be easy to boo them and people will do it when you are in a crowd really. Not a lot of thought will have gone into the booing however so I don't know why Eddie Jordan on the podium and the media were so interested in it. It was also equally pathetic though for Rosberg to claim the booing came from British fans who obviously just support Lewis Hamilton! I am sure there would have been a mix of nationalities in the crowd.

I would nominate this new F1 penalty system for ROTR which is clearly not fit for purpose. The five second penalty is so insignificant now that it has created incentives for teams to instead rush their mechanics back onto the track and fix their cars when other drivers are starting their parade lap, rather than starting from the back of the grid.

I agree that for incidents such as minor accidents, or exceeding track limits deserve small penalties, such as the five second additional pit stop time, but having mechanics setting up batteries on the track with moving F1 cars around them at least deserved a 10 second stop and go penalty, including coming in and exciting the pits separately to a normal pit stop. Is it justice too that Magnussen can get a 20 second penalty for his track antics, but Ferrari only got five, which can also be served during a planned pit stop? I have to add though that Magnussen 'pushing' Alonso off the straight was far worse and more deliberate than anything Rosberg did.

This will happen again too unless the FIA act quickly, clearly there needs to be a scale for the level of the offense to be matched to a suitable penalty.

[GwilymJJames]

Lewis has alleged that Nico has admitted to deliberately causing the accident. If true, I nominate Nico Rosberg. If not, I nominate Lewis Hamilton

[andrew]

How can Rossi bet rotr when he did not race?

[Enforcer]

Twitter & mainstream sites posting tweets. Giving idiots a platform to speak on.

[mrfakeboullier]

I nominate Lewis Hamilton
DHM's go to The Spa Crowd, The Ferrari mechanics, Lelricsson and Sky F1