Your Reject of the Year - nominations

[Frogfoot9013]

Wouldn't the nuke burn up entering the atmosphere?
I suggest using an Ion Cannon instead!

Nice to see another C&C fan

C&C3 was my favourite of them all, just for the ability to handicap the AI by 95%.

[Nin13]

Kimi Raikkonen is standing up and saying pick me. 100 points behind Alonso. Not a fan of Alonso but Ferrari letting him go and signing Vettel. Looks like good old days are back when they kicked Prost and let Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger drive for them.

[KL-racer]

Okay, I purposely waited longer than I wanted for my picks to be posted. So, with that in mind here's my ROTY podium, pending what happens in Abu Dhabi, of course.

3rd: TIE between Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari

The reason why both Kimi and Ferrari made it on the podium is pretty simple. Kimi was supposed to be the consistent #2 driver that Alonso and Ferrari needed for a possible constructor's title, but instead what they got is a driver that was simply looking to get paid! And to top it all off, Ferrari decided to let go of Alonso and keep Kimi instead for 2015, and it's highly suggested that Vettel will be Kimi's new teammate, but it's still not confirmed yet. As for Ferrari, look if you car is a piece of poop, no amount of raw talent and ability will compensate for it. In other words, if Alonso can't do it, I honestly think Vettel can't do it either.

2nd: TIE between Caterham and Sauber

The reason why Lotus was not on my podium because I was expecting 2013 to be a fluke anyway and especially when they signed pay driver Maldonado and skipped the 1st test in the preseason. Instead, I decided to give my 2nd spot to both Caterham and Sauber, for equally convincing reasons. Sauber was hoping that Sutil was the veteran tutor that Esteban needed. Instead, Sauber as of now, has scored 0 points and being outscored by Marussia, who didn't made it through the whole season! As for Caterham, it's one thing to try an alien nose on your car and expect it to work. It's another to have absurd management that is so stupid enough to ask fans to donate money to them!

1st: Bernie and the current state of F1

So, all of these regulation changes happened and what was the end result, a sport in a possible spending crisis and a total yawn-fest by Mercedes. The last couple massive changes to the regulations, 2009, with the introduction of KERS and 2006 with the 2.4 V8 engine introduction was more exciting than this season! I am sincerely hoping that this is not the beginning of a Dynasty for Mercedes, because the last time anything like this had happened was 2000-04 with Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. And I didn't even mention about Bernie yet, his comments regarding the small teams need to go home packing, was so disturbing to say the least. I can name many great drivers that got their start in a smaller team both past and present, Aytron Senna, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Mark Webber, even the great Michael Schumacher got their chance in a smaller team and managed to have great careers, but then again, as they say, timing is everything!

[Ed24]

For me, while obviously there are massive problems in the sport, the award has to go to Caterham this year for embodying a true sense of rejectdom that hasn't been seen for many a year.

[Miguel98]

Right, and with the 2014 Abby Dhabby Grand Prix, the 2014 Formula One World Champioship has come to an end. Lewis Hamilton won the title in front of his team-mate, Nico Rosberg. Daniel Ricciardo was the surprise package of the season, finishing 3rd, not only beating 4 time world champion Sebastian Vettel, but beeing the only non-Mercedes driver to stand on top of the podium this year, with three amazing wins. We saw how Williams came back, finishing 3rd in the Constructors Champioship. We saw many things. So, let's start with the RoTY nominations:

Kimi Raikkonen - When I found out, a year ago, that Kimi was driving for Ferrari in 2014, I thought to myself "Maybe he can fight for the champioship". I didn't know that the Mercedes would be dominating, neither that Kimi would be crap. His best drive was at Spa, a circuit where he's known to be the master of, and it was to a 4th place, which, to be fair, could've been a podium. He also had bad luck: at Monaco, he could've finished on the podium, where he was running in, before Chilton ruined his race by crashing into him under Safety Car. He did a good race in Brazil, and after that, it seems Kimi's season was just, well, crap. If Bianchi hadn't crashed in Japan, I think Kimi's F1 carrer would be done. Roll over another year in Ferrari, then. And with Vettel beside him, it's going to be curious to what's going to happen. He might either be really good, or really crap. Or only crap, which is more likelly. Collect a few more dollars, and then retire after a crap year. Time to leave F1 Kimi, for how much I love you, and leave that seat to a guy who cares more.

Sauber - Most pathetic driver combination of the year? Yes. When you had Gutierrez and Sutil on a team, you maybe could've though "Maybe a couple of points can come in". Well, 0 points. The first time in Sauber's history this has happened. And all because Sutil and Gutierrez decided to spend more time putting their pay-driver monies on repair bills. Gutierrez was running solidly on points and then he made a mistake worthy of F1 Challenge AI. Crashing into Rascasse, and then stalling. It was just pathetic. And then Sutil binned it too. Gutierrez still had good races though. He did good at Russia, Singapore, where if the car didn't die on him, could've finish around 7th-8th place. Sutil, well, bar Hungary, he was fairly crap, to be fair. I wonder how much did Bianchi's crash affect him though.. But still, he putted the Sauber into their only Q3 appeareance this year. Just to get taken out even before the end of lap 1. It's good they got rid of both, and replaced them with Ericsson and Nasr, which will do a better job. Well, at least Nasr will do, not sure on Ericsson...

Bernie Ecclestone/FOM - Look into Tommy's post. It's all there what you need to know about this.

Lotus - They we're the second best team by the end of last season of 2013. And now, they're reduced to a team that finish 8th in the WCC. If you want to look into their season, please look into Maldonado burning Lotus in Abu Dhabi. It's all there. Their car was the second worst, only better than the Catheram. They better thank the Gods that they had hax setups at Catalunya, where Grosjean was simply incredible. Shout to the Revered too, where dispite a lot of problems, towards the end of the season really improved. Let's see what 2015 holds for them, but my bet is a very simple design with a Mercedes engine on the back of it. I expect them to come back into the top 5 of the WCC next year. Or at least, close to Force India.

Catheram - You realise they became a farce when CROWDFUNDING was the way too go. Nice job Tony Fernandes, and nice job who ever owns the team now. Forza Rossa expects you for 2015.

[Zergon]

I will concentrate on just teams and drivers here so despite making strong case for himself, Bernie isn´t going to show on this list.

3rd: I mostly try to concentrate on what happend on the race track but Caterham just has to get into this list, not so much on their race performance (I wasn´t expecting anything more from them) but because that messy situation they are in. I mean, mass firings, legal actions, pay drivers, crowdfunding etc. They also get plus points for the interview I remember were they claimed that Caterham were led the wrong way and that they know how to lead a small team.... Yeah, I´m not an expect but I´m pretty sure your way isn´t the "right" way, guys! On the plus side, they likely earned their spot on this side thanks to the second half of this year so thanks for that I guess....

2nd: Sauber for not scoring any points at all. Yes, they had a bad year and financical troubles and all but still, it´s not like Marussia were any better position and they still scored more points as did Lotus from very similar (if not a bit worse performance wise) starting point. Oh, and bonus points on that merry-go-round on who will be driving next year. I just hope there won´t be any legal actions waiting there that could suck money out from the team.

1st: Kimi Räikkönen, simply because for me, he´s the biggest disappoinment as far as expected performance goes. I at least expected Lotus, Caterham and Sauber to do badly but on Kimi´s case, I expected him to challenge Alonso. Perhaps a bit over optimistic on my part with car developed for Alonso, but still, being left 12th on the driver standings with about 1/3 of Alonso´s points is not what I expected at all.

[Dj_bereta]

LUIZ FELIPE SCOLARI FOR BEING A STUBBORN OLD MAN + BUILD A TEAM WITH NO TATICS + LET SPAIN GET DIEGO COSTA! MADE BRAZIL LOOKS SILLY IN THE WORLD CUP LOSING TO GERMANY BY 7X1, A TEAM WHO BARELY MANAGED TO WIN AGAINST ALGERIA! Only the Nascar new chase format reach of the level of "rejectness" of him. Oh, sorry, its only about F1.


3rd - Sauber: By a huge margin, the worst year of the team since 1999-2000. The team finished behind of Marussia in the standings. Good enough to guarantee a place in the ROTY podium.

2nd - F1 safety/Charlie Whiting:I was really annoyed when I saw a crane in Hockenheim in the hairpin, without a safety car. I was really annoyed when I saw Sutil's car parked in the middle of the main straight and Marshalls running at the track, without a safety car, in the same race. I was really annoyed when I saw a crane removing Chilton's car at Monza of a dangerous spot without a Safety car. And I was annoyed again, when stewards didn't bring the safety car to the track in Suzuka, after Sutil's crash, and let A BATHPLUGING CRANE TO THE TRACK IN WET CONDITIONS!! Charlie was too much worried about influencing the race result, but he forget the safety. And the priority must be the safety, not preserving the race result. The Bianchi crash, sadly, was the result of all these wrong actions which happened in this year.

1st - Bernie Ecclestone: In the last years, he was the clown of the F1, with crazy ideas, which never came true, like the "medal system". Now, he not only the clown, but one of the main reasons of F1 crisis. He wanted to build a F1 with great names, like Honda, Toyota, BMW, Renault, Ferrari, etc. He failed, because these manufacturers only want to be in F1 for winning. So, BMW, Toyota and Honda leaves F1 and Renault quit the role of team. Max invited new teams and and tried the cost cap. Top teams refused the cost cap and Bernie didn't do anything. Hispania and Marussia are gone, with Caterham almost in the grave. No wonder if Lotus, Sauber and Force India leaves F1 in the next years and Bernie says without any worry which in 2015 season we could see a grid with only 14 cars. Fourteen cars! Lowest number in all F1 history.

Somebody get rid of this crazy old man. He is destroying F1.

Special mention:

Caterham: Last, internal crisis, made a sad farewell to Kobayashi...
Lotus: Clearly the ROTY after the first race. The team were lucky to score some points.
Kimi Raikkonen: The deadbeat team mate of the year, by a huge margin. Looks like Kimi doesn't care anymore. It's better to him to retire and let Hulkenberg or Perez takes the seat. Or better, give it to Button for one or two years.

[girry]

Drivers:

3rd: Marcus Ericsson

Ok, we may not have expected much - but at least Chilton-esque to finish, first you have to keep the car on the track performing should have been a reasonable expectation in a cash-strapped Caterham. NOPE. What we got in Australia was a hopelessly off-the-pace Swede, who went on to be through countless accidents and torn Caterhams...which cannot have helped in Caterham's financial problems. The only thing saving Marcus from being the ROTY is the slight improvement towards the end of the season. Not saying Marcus absolutely doesn't deserve another shot in F1 - but given that there are only 18 seats, and drivers like Button, Vergne and Kobayashi likely to be out of F1 for good...

2nd: Kimi Räikkönen

Oh Ferrari. Hiring perhaps the pickiest, most expensive and least adaptable driver you could have cannot have been a good idea when you have had his polar driving style opposite develop your car for some good four years. Kimi's still capable to produce the great drive when planets align, but only when. Every time they don't - which was the most often - perhaps reliable and clean but anonymous, usually outright dull.

1st: Adrian Sutil

When trying to comprehend Sauber's rejectdom you first think of GutiGuti, but then you realize it and look at his teammate. Sutil was expected to, if not destroy Esteban in a fashion Hülkenberg did, at least wipe the floor with him. NOPE: Guti was the stronger qualifier, usually quicker in races and even if had some silly accidents, at least he occasionally made the Sauber look like the punching-above-weight Sauber we've become so used to seeing. Adrian's season, though? Uhh....one Q3 in Austin and....THAT spin at Hockenheim. Narrowly managed to beat his girlfriend in broadcast time.

HM: 4th Gutiérrez, 5th Chilton, 6th Maldonado

Teams:

3rd: Sauber

dull; humdrum; lifeless; monotonous; mundane; stale; stodgy; stuffy; stupid; sutil; tame; tedious; tiresome; tiring; trite; uninteresting - and then they announce Marcus Ericsson's contracted for 2015. Beaten by a dead Marussia. Would deserve ROTY on a year other teams weren't even more useless.

2nd: Ferrari

Contrary to a popular belief Fernando Alonso isn't a magician, just an expert in grabbing his chances and never letting go. And there's only so much he can extract from them. Hiring Kimi, losing Alonso, staff going in and out, Luca di Montezemolo, Domenicali, Mattiacci, god knows who next - the mess inside the team was the only thing properly Scuderia Ferrari in the, performance and car-wise, most non-Ferrari-esque season I've ever witnessed.

1st: Caterham

Reached a level of rejectdom not seen since the days of Forti, and that was despite having an actually decent car. You could not but feel for the poor Kobayashi - so full of joy in the Albert Park grid, so devoid of joy when the reality struck. Even Jaguar went through less principals and bosses during its existence than Caterham did during this one year - Fernandes, Abiteboul, Kolles, Albers, Ravetto, this crowdfunding guy...oh yes, the crowdfunding. And that silly first spec nose. Not to mention, those races missed. Car failures. Weekend's drivers still up in the air on Fridays. Silly, amusing, hopeless, desperate, depressing, sad - this is the hands down ROTY.

[CoopsII]

Vettel - Having a bad time with your new team-mate? Join a sh1t team instead
Ferrari - Utter bobbins all season.

[dinizintheoven]

Some of you will remember this year's pre-season podcast. Some of you will even have it downloaded and will be able to listen to it again the way the general public no longer can. And I'll certainly remember being part of it.

That day in the pub in London, I had no clear idea what I'd be asked to contribute, but Jamie asking me and Watka who we tipped for Reject Of The Year - right there and then - wasn't something I'd prepared for, even though I probably should. Sauber were my tip for ROTR, almost off the top of my head. All we'd had at that point was pre-season testing, in which it looked like they'd made another mutt - but, this year, rather than having Nico Hülkenberg drive the wheels off it and put it in places it had no right to be, he'd scampered back to Force India and left this job to Adrian Sutil. While Esteban Gutiérrez cruised round, presumably as hopelessly as he'd done in 2013, he who you don't want to let near a champagne glass would have to thrust forward and take the fight to those teams above Sauber in the reckoning. And I didn't think he could; despite his early season heroics in 2013 after a year off he never struck me as the sort of driver who could take a car that was as miserable as the Spyker he'd been dealt in 2007 and bring it to prominence.

And I was so, so tempted to gloat and revel in the glory of my pre-season prediction after Monaco, when Guti flung away the chance to score - what has turned out to be Sauber only realistic shot at the scoreboard this season - and handed those points to Marussia instead.

What I couldn't have predicted, though - or at least what I didn't want to predict - was how badly it's unravelled for the teams at the back. You know, the ones we're really here to cheer for, because nobody else will.

Rather than celebrating the end of their best season in F1 as the only team from those given the baptism of fire in 2010, Marussia's doors lie shut - with it looking almost certain that the original incarnation as Manor Grand Prix won't be rising like a phoenix from these flames, whatever next year's entry list says. The driver who was on top of the world in Monaco celebrating ninth place as if it was a World Championship... Jules Bianchi lies unconscious on a hospital bed with his brain smashed to smithereens, with no telling how much of a recovery he can make. A week later in Russia - the race that Timo Glock had once (rather ambitiously) said would be Marussia's target for their first podium - was the last gasp and fizzled out after a handful of laps. I once wondered how Marussia Motors could brand a F1 team in their own image when, as it looked, nobody ever bought one of the road cars. I heard, after they were dissolved earlier this year, that they'd sold four road cars in their entire existence. After all, what does the mere mention of the Russian car industry conjure up but images of clattering Ladas, Moskviches and Volgas, and the super-rich oligarchs who would be in the position to buy a Marussia road car wouldn't - even the most fervent Russian patriot would buy a Ferrari or a Lamborghini instead, or maybe an Aston Martin - but certainly not a Marussia.

And what of Caterham? This is the team that started its existence, albeit under a different name, as the one most likely to make the grade, the one that would soon surmount its five seconds off the pace; after all, they'd recruited Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen and Mike Gascoyne, two winners and a proven engineer. A bit of wheeling and dealing behind the scenes, a Renault engine for 2011 and a Red Bull gearbox - from the two-year-old but race-winning RB5 - surely that'd see them in amongst the lower midfield, at least? It didn't happen that year. Or 2012. Or 2013. And by that time, with Tony Fernandes losing patience (as well as heaps of money) and the car always being at least a second slower than whoever was dead ahead as the 9th fastest car throughout their entire existence... sure, it looked as bleak as it did for Marussia, but with both these teams I genuinely thought the new engine formula this year, and that they'd have to design the cars with a completely clean sheet, would help them. When the Caterham CT05 was unveiled, my reaction was one of similar horror to the step-nosed crocodile of 2012 (that most of the others went with anyway). This one, though, was uniquely hideous. How badly they lost their way can only be summed up thus - a clueless engineer need only have fixed on the nose upside-down and the car sprayed white to make it near-indistinguishable from the 33-year-old gargoyle that was the Theodore TY01. Sure, I exaggerate there, but how anyone at the Caterham factory over the winter can ever have thought that car would have worked is beyond me. Maybe, just maybe, if the revised design that André Lotterer was dropped into for a handful of laps had been the one that first took to the track in the spring, it might have been a different story - even though it most probably wouldn't.

I was as surprised as any that Caterham's valiant, if slightly misguided, bid to make this last race in Abu Dhabi worked, and even more surprised that they didn't disgrace themselves with a lack of performance that only Tonio Liuzzi, Narain Karthikeyan and Pedro de la Rosa have experienced in these last few years (and you will notice I haven't included any of the 2010 Hispania drivers, who never suffered the ignominy of a DNQ at a time when those who drop outside the 107% time are usually still allowed to race). So for that reason I would not say that they descended into the kind of farce that Andrea Moda once did, tempting though it was for some to say. But if they find a buyer, whether it's Colin Kolles and Forza Rossa, or some bunch of Arabs who have taken an interest this weekend, what do they have to face next year but more of the same.

HRT have long since gone to the wall. Marussia, or maybe we should call them Manor again, are moribund. Caterham... who knows what this weekend's experiment will ultimately bring. Even with the upcoming year to prepare, Gene Haas must be looking at what these three teams faced and will already be ordering a lifetime's supply of laxatives, nerve tonic and many, many reprints of The Little Book Of Calm - for when the season kicks off in 2016, the spectre of how far away the remaining two backmarkers were, for all their efforts this year, will already be looming large over the Yanks.

And who knows... maybe even my prediction for Reject Of The Year back in February will be joining the ranks of those who are cast away at the back. Felipe Nasr may be what they need - but despite the upswing in Marcus Ericsson's performance at the end of his Caterham tenure, how much of that was down to him genuinely improving and how much of it was Kamui completely giving up the ghost will remain debatable. For most of this year he looked almost as out of his depth as Yuji Ide was.

While I mention old Yuji there, a word for Super Aguri. Something tells me they hold the key to my explanation of the malaise surrounding the wrong end F1 at the moment. Sure, they weren't brought in under false pretences of a budget cap, the way our favourite back three of the 2010s undoubtedly were. Effectively they were drafted in at short notice from Formula Nippon so that Takuma Sato would still have a drive after the works Honda team lost patience with him. We all know how they had to start the 2006 season using a hastily-modified 2002 Arrows, a car that was hardly a frontrunner even when it was new. Sato started the season qualifying about five seconds off the pace of the frontrunners in Q1; by the time the decrepit old SA05 was pensioned off in France, Sato and Montagny were both still dropping out in Q1 but were only three seconds short of the fastest Q1 time. That's closer to the front that Caterham and Marussia have been in Q1 for most of this season, when they've been building their own cars for five seasons. Under the current points system, Sato would have scored Super Aguri's first point at the last race of that year, albeit with the revised SA06 - which took our current backmarkers four and a bit seasons to do themselves, and only one team did it. And then... In 2007, Super Aguri gave us what I've always thought this website... this community, even, is all about: the small teams at the back actually being able to punch above their weight, just briefly, but enough to leave a huge bruise on the faces of the big boys. Two early-season points finishes (albeit no other 9th or 10th places that would have helped them under the current system) kept them ahead of the parent Honda team until the 16th of 17 rounds, and as the Honda team trundling around in their hateful RA107 it must have really hurt as their B-team, considered utterly hopeless and a bit of a joke the year before, was beating them in a car that was effectively their own race-winning (albeit with a heavy dose of fortune) RA106. And of course, there was Canada, when Super Aguri landed the heaviest punch on the mightiest face of them all, World Champion Fernando Alonso in the McLaren that should have taken him to another championship that year, or so he thought.

That is what I always thought I'd see from the "new" teams at the back. I thought I'd see it from the team which is now Caterham in 2011. I thought the team that was transitioning from being Virgin to Marussia was going to do the same, but when I saw the 2011 car that was very little different from the original, I figured that had to go on the back seat. Even so, I thought they'd do it one day - but the closest they came was that pay-day in Monaco that was ultimately for nothing, and the faces that Jules Bianchi's metaphorical boxing glove landed on that day were Kamui Kobayashi - probably regretting his decision to drive for Caterham - and the Saubers, who may ultimately benefit from Marussia's critical existence failure as if Jules had let one of both of them pass. And that had really been the only time I remember one of these backmarkers punching above their weight in the race since Timo Glock had done his own impression of the Trulli Train around the streets of Singapore in 2010 - pre-DRS, remember. The implementation of those moving rear wings the next year killed off any chance of a repeat of that in an instant.

I saw recently that when all the profits of F1 are added up for a year, CVC will cream off $350 million before anyone else gets a slice of the pie. That's Caterham's and Marussia's budget for the year, and HRT's had they still been in competition, and there'd still be a ton of change left over.

But is it all about money? As Super Aguri finally slid into oblivion, I remember Martin Brundle's grid walk in what I think was their last race. By then they were running their own version of the cursed Honda RA107 and had inherited its utter awfulness; they'd plunged firmly to the back of the field, and Aguri Suzuki revealed that he had to find $100 million every year to keep the team going. Of course, he couldn't. Marussia and HRT have, as far as I know, never managed to get $100 million for an annual budget, ever - more like half that. I think Caterham did it once (2011 or 2012, maybe? Didn't someone say they had a larger budget than Sauber one year...?) but what good has it done them? Every year, it was the same story, and one I wanted to write for Reject Centrale (and which would have now vanished along with the rest of the site for who knows how long). Sure, they all had to start with a blank sheet and no data in 2010, but how would it help the development of the 2011 car to start with something that's five seconds plus off the pace; the point was proved with they-who-are-now-Caterham, with their Renault and Red Bull parts that I've already mentioned and the bladed-rollbar-design that only they and Force India went with that year... all together it did nothing to advance their cause, neither did next year's car, or the next. Crap in, crap out; had any of those backmarkers suddenly had a Red Bull budget to spend, would that have hauled them to the front? Or was the only way a customer car the way Super Aguri had - what if Red Bull had properly taken on they-who-are-now-Caterham as an official "C" team, what if in 2011 they'd still been allowed to donate their 2010 chassis to Toro Rosso and the 2009 chassis to Caterham, have both teams update the tubs to 2011 regulations, would that have worked? I suspect it'd have had more results than the approach that said: we must go it alone on a tiny budget and all we have to start with is a car that would be outpaced by GP2 teams... but that was their only choice.

I know I'm rambling. I know I've just spewed a load of disjointed thoughts onto an internet forum and hoped that some meaning would fall out of it somewhere. I know F1 has changed beyond all recognition from what it was when I started watching in 1990 - or even from the turn of the century when Michael Schumacher was casting every record in the book into the flames. And I know that I've probably not said what I wanted to in the right words, or I've done so in more of them and with less meaning than what a Belgian half my age whose first language isn't English can do.

And all this time, what I'm really trying to say is what Tommy said in the first place...

Reject Of The Year should be an all-encompassing concept: the state of F1 as it is now that has allowed it to spiral towards a black hole that picks off teams one by one as it pleases, with replacements ever harder to find, and who will most likely be just as doomed from day one as Caterham, Marussia and HRT were. Already I'm not looking forward to the 2015 season anywhere near as much as this one just gone - but there's still the crushing realisation that I will continue to watch even if more teams than these do fall, if we have to go to three cars per team, then four... with the ever-looming threat that F1 itself might circle the drain close enough that the whole organisation falls into it.

Someone had better start praying to the Lord Of Light, for the silly season is dark, and full of terrors.

[CoopsII]

Could you elaborate please?

[dr-baker]

Someone had better start praying to the Lord Of Light, for the silly season is dark, and full of terrors.

Already on it.

And I really wish I had been able to make it to the London meet earlier in the year now. But never mind, not a lot I can do about it.

[rachel1990]

Tough One here- many Drivers and teams have been Rejectful this year but its become clearer who has really shone as rejects

Top 3 Drivers

3- Adrian Sutil
I expected Very little from Gutierrez to be honest but I did expect a bit better from Sutil who was okay last year in the force india. Yes that Sauber was absolute Rubbish but was it much worse than the 2013 car. I doubt it. Sutil had opportunities (Monaco for example) to take points and really lead the team to get out of the mess they were in but he seemed part of the problem rather than the solution. Will he be in f1 next year? I doubt it.

2- Sebastian Vettel.
Second place may seem harsh but he is a FOUR time world Champion. Even if the Red Bull was a lesser car this year he should have had THAT year that his hero Michael Schumacher had (1996) to step up and show the world that he is the driver to beat and even if the car is not as good as before. Instead he was thrashed by his teammate finished 5th in the DC and his 4 WC now seem less worthy than Both Schumachers and Fangio's. Oh and hes off to Ferrari (well that was the only thing he could do rather be a number 2 driver. Mark must have loved this year!!!)

1- Kimi Raikkonen
Ah the Iceman. The warning signs were there from the end of last year with his so called 'back issues'. Ferrari hired him back to be a real challenger to Fernando Alonso. Instead he managed to do a worse job than Felipe Massa in that car and was nowhere near the pace. Unless Ferrari have a great year next year then his great career will end with a flicker.

top 3 teams

3rd Caterham
This was really tough because while the top 2 are obvious I really cannot put Lotus in 3rd place (due to money issues). But to be fair for Caterham I expected little and they promised nothing. And they delivered on both counts. I suppose their drivers tried there best but the car really was the slowest on the grid. Will go out with a whimper!!

2nd Sauber.
Second and first were so close this year but I have put Sauber second because this was slightly inevitable. Rubbish Drivers Rubbish Engine Rubbish Chassis. 2014 will go down as rubbish for them. When they had the opportunities to get some points they blew it. I cannot believe they have finished with ZERO points in 2014. Driver clearout coming!!!

1st- Ferrari
10 years ago they won all but 3 races of the 2004 season and there drivers finished 1st and 2nd in the Drivers championship and won the Constructors by miles. Sound familiar? Its been a slow decline since then and while there have been highs since then (2007) this is the lowest of the low. No wins. No idea what to do. The driver choices were awful (Raikkonen), strategy was a joke and the chassis was ridiculously bad. Their star Driver has walked out on them sick of not winning and they have resorted to signing a still questionable 4 times world champion (who was also winless in 2014). I suppose the only way is up but it could get worse in 2015!!!

Overall
3 Sauber
2 Raikkonen
1 Ferrari the company Overall!!

[Bobby Doorknobs]

Some of you will remember this year's pre-season podcast. Some of you will even have it downloaded and will be able to listen to it again the way the general public no longer can.

Actually, it's still possible to download the podcast from here: http://web.archive.org/web/201407180200 ... index.html

Anyway, I think you're in line for a post of the year nomination!

[Ataxia]

Diniz, you're right on the money. And that was a joy to read as well, so good work!

2- Sebastian Vettel.
Second place may seem harsh but he is a FOUR time world Champion. Even if the Red Bull was a lesser car this year he should have had THAT year that his hero Michael Schumacher had (1996) to step up and show the world that he deserves those titles. Instead he was thrashed by his teammate finished 5th in the DC and his 4 WC now seem meaningless. Oh and hes off to Ferrari (well that was the only thing he could do rather be a number 2 driver. Mark must have loved this year!!!)

Sorry, what? Poor old Sebastian; he goes out and wins four titles on the trot and he's still told he must show he deserves them. What a big load; yes, fine, Vettel was beaten by Ricciardo this year. Yes, he didn't win a race. None of that invalidates the FOUR titles he won. It was most certainly an off year for Sebastian, but they happen to the best of people. Michael Schumacher had a bad year in 2005. Does that make his five-in-a-row meaningless? Of course not.

I don't agree with the nominations for Caterham. Sure, they were slow. The car looked like someone had tried to describe the Ferrari 312T4 over the phone, Tony Fernandes decided even QPR were more worthwhile, and Marussia had the upper hand. But, the recent events encapsulated all that this site celebrates. Let me explain.

The return of Colin Kolles, for a start. Caterham would have been dead earlier if not for him. The appointment of a reject driver team principal in Christijan Albers, before he left the team was also a nice touch, and handing Andre Lotterer his debut was a moment that people lauded the team for. Then there was the crowdfunding effort; had that been around in the early 90s, you can bet all the little teams would have used it. We saw a myriad of little logos on the car that we haven't seen since Minardi were assimilated into the Red Bull system. And then there were the heroics of Will Stevens. If that's not something this site can celebrate, then we might as well all go home.

I do, however, agree with the case for Sauber. Last year started badly, but in the hands of Hulkenberg the car had potential; he was pretty much glued to Alonso in the tail end of last season. This year had nothing going for it. Estrian Sutierrez, possibly the most mediocre mutant in history, was hopeless behind the wheel and now leaves trying to be accepted elsewhere. I really hope the fresh lineup of Nasr and Ericsson offers more hope to the team; Nasr's quick, and Ericsson's got something to prove, so they certainly don't have the apathy of Sutil nor the ineptitude of Gutierrez.

[Alextrax52]

2- Sebastian Vettel.
Second place may seem harsh but he is a FOUR time world Champion. Even if the Red Bull was a lesser car this year he should have had THAT year that his hero Michael Schumacher had (1996) to step up and show the world that he deserves those titles. Instead he was thrashed by his teammate finished 5th in the DC and his 4 WC now seem meaningless. Oh and hes off to Ferrari (well that was the only thing he could do rather be a number 2 driver. Mark must have loved this year!!!)

Since when do F1 titles become meaningless? I thoroughly agree with Ataxia on that one

And I also think nominating him altogether is harsh as well. Vettel had so many unreliability problems this season which cost him results like Monaco. Also the results for me don't show how close Seb and Dan were in races. The stats show that Seb only beat Dan home in Germany Singapore and Japan but looking at races Seb would have also beaten Dan home in Malaysia and Brazil even if Dan finished those races (Brazil was the only race you could really say was rubbish for Dan). I also think if tire management hadn't played it's part then Seb would have beaten Dan in Great Britain and Italy (especially Britain being just 8 seconds behind with one extra pit-stop) and in Canada had RBR brought Vettel in earlier I think he would have won the race and Ricciardo would have been 3rd instead. So I think it would have been 9-8 Vettel taking everything into account. This isn't to say that Dan didn't deserve anything it's just if one takes a closer look at everything instead of reading the bare result sheet then Seb and Dan are more equal than you might think

[Rob Dylan]

On the site when they have the overview they used to have a mini 3rd 2nd 1st summary at the bottom of the page. This year they should have that, and the text beside 1st should be dinizintheoven's post.

[watka]

So here goes:

3. Marcus Ericsson - the "young teams" have had some pretty average drivers over the course of their existence but none as poor as Marcus Ericsson. The sheer number of mistakes he made each weekend made him look totally unprepared for Formula 1 and not only that he was generally sizeably off the pace of everyone else. Had a slight upturn towards the end of the season but how much of that was down to his car getting updates whilst Kobayashi's car was barely bolted together is a consideration. Did nothing at all to justify his spot in F1, but clearly has the money to stick around.

2. Kimi Raikkonen - never looking like getting to grips with this year's cars. Not only that but he seemed to lack any race craft and often fell backwards after not qualifying particularly well in the first place. All this from a World Champion who was at perhaps once upon a time the guy with the fastest natural pace in the entire field and is also well known for being independent at the wheel and able to manage his own race. Definitely the Dead Beat Teammate of the Year.

1. Sauber - how bad was the car so that they finished not only behind cash-strapped Lotus but also Marussia? The drivers were uninspiring, the car was uninspiring, and management were uninspiring. They seemed to just be stuck in a massive rut all season with their car not being suited to any type of track. Sure, the Ferrari engine didn't help but then you'd have expected Toro Rosso to have been equally affected. No points, the future looks bleak.

0. Bernie - deserves his own special accolade for bring the sport into yet another crisis, and this time he really doesn't seem to care what the outcome will be

[rachel1990]

2- Sebastian Vettel.
Second place may seem harsh but he is a FOUR time world Champion. Even if the Red Bull was a lesser car this year he should have had THAT year that his hero Michael Schumacher had (1996) to step up and show the world that he deserves those titles. Instead he was thrashed by his teammate finished 5th in the DC and his 4 WC now seem meaningless. Oh and hes off to Ferrari (well that was the only thing he could do rather be a number 2 driver. Mark must have loved this year!!!)

Since when do F1 titles become meaningless? I thoroughly agree with Ataxia on that one

And I also think nominating him altogether is harsh as well. Vettel had so many unreliability problems this season which cost him results like Monaco. Also the results for me don't show how close Seb and Dan were in races. The stats show that Seb only beat Dan home in Germany Singapore and Japan but looking at races Seb would have also beaten Dan home in Malaysia and Brazil even if Dan finished those races (Brazil was the only race you could really say was rubbish for Dan). I also think if tire management hadn't played it's part then Seb would have beaten Dan in Great Britain and Italy (especially Britain being just 8 seconds behind with one extra pit-stop) and in Canada had RBR brought Vettel in earlier I think he would have won the race and Ricciardo would have been 3rd instead. So I think it would have been 9-8 Vettel taking everything into account. This isn't to say that Dan didn't deserve anything it's just if one takes a closer look at everything instead of reading the bare result sheet then Seb and Dan are more equal than you might think

It didn't come out the way I intended (I have edited it) I just felt that he needed to take the year by the scruff of the neck and be there when the Mercedes hit trouble. But he never was and Riccardo took the spoils. I have changed the meaningless to less worthy than Schumacher and Fangio.

[1993DonningtonNo1]

My Rejects of the Year 2014:

1. Lotus-Renault: no Kimster, no Quantum, no Hulk, the ugliest nose of the lot and only 10 points all season. Need I say more?
2. Sauber-Ferrari: Simple, their first pointless season! Honestly, did they really score 4 podiums and almost a win only two years ago?
3. Ferrari: Their first winless season since 1993 (2005 excluding THAT Indy race), no wonder Nando's finally given up on them and gone to McLaren!

Can't really decide with regards to the drivers.

[SgtPepper]

Bronze

Kimi Raikkonen - whether it's not liking the car, being too old, or just not caring, this has been sad to watch. I was tempted to give it to Vettel after having just won 4 on the trot, but I never saw him as anything more than average/decent anyway, and that was exactly what he showed. He even handled his being trounced with an admirable degree of good grace, and I have to give him credit for that.

Silver

Sky F1 and Lewisteria - grew increasingly unbearable as the season progressed. I'm aware they have to pander to the casuals to try boost viewing figures, but it got beyond a joke at some points. Whether it was reading out silly conspiracy theory tweets to give air to those views (while lazily disagreeing with them), selling Nico short, focussing almost all coverage on Hamilton, or just general fanboyism, Sky became unbearable to watch. And it's not even like you can switch over to the BBC anymore - no Gary Anderson, no Martin Brundle, and the insufferable David 'just call me a Red Bull mouthpiece' Coulthard.

Gold

Bernie and the general state of F1 - enough has been said on this already really. Pay drivers taking up seats that are so desperately thin on the ground, Tilke tracks, DRS, spiralling costs, losing the minnows halfway through the season, crowd funding in a sport awash with money, double points - all already listed far more eloquently above. Something seriously needs to change.

[James1978]

Drivers:

Bronze: Maldonado
Silver: Sutil
Gold: Raikkonen

(leaving out the likes of Ericsson as my expectations from him were low, likewise Gutierrez).

Teams:

Bronze: Lotus
Silver: Sauber
Gold: Ferrari

(Again I had low expectations of Caterham)

[Captain Hammer]

Sky F1 and Lewisteria - grew increasingly unbearable as the season progressed. I'm aware they have to pander to the casuals to try boost viewing figures, but it got beyond a joke at some points. Whether it was reading out silly conspiracy theory tweets to give air to those views (while lazily disagreeing with them), selling Nico short, focussing almost all coverage on Hamilton, or just general fanboyism, Sky became unbearable to watch. And it's not even like you can switch over to the BBC anymore - no Gary Anderson, no Martin Brundle, and the insufferable David 'just call me a Red Bull mouthpiece' Coulthard.

I get that there is a massive following in England, and that commentators naturally want to focus on local drivers - the Australian commentary team were notorious for talking Mark Webber up at every opportunity. But what makes it a problem in Sky's case is that they broadcast the world feed. So everyone is subject to their obvious biases. I was especially disappointed to hear Martin Brundle doing it.

[Sublime_FA11C]

Honorable mentions first:

Kimi has shown in Lotus that he can really struggle, and he was made to look bad by Grosjean once he was carefull but determined enough. I expected him to take a long time to settle into Ferrari and expected him to have steering issues all year. He's had a bad year sure, but there are better choices for ROTY.

Ferrari themselves have endured a dreadfull year, but they simply got the trick wrong with new regulations and designed a car that sacrifices engine performance in favor of aero. They tried to "out-Red Bull" Red Bull, and succeded somewhat only to find Mercedes curbstomping the entire field, and their own aero developments too unsophisticated. COupled to a nervous engine their car was as ugly to drive as it was to look at. Remarkably, Ferrari were the most reliable team in 2014, and even more remarkably, reliability turned out be be meaningles when compared to raw pace.

Ferrari duly deserve a ROTY for the positions their cars finished in, but in the end failed to get onto that podium too.

Christian Horner deserves a few mentions. Sour grapes are one thing but bad sportsmanship, downright cheating and calls to rewrite the rules otherwise Red Bull won't want to play ball any more are enough to get considered. In the end, this is 2014, other things have happened and in this year we simply don't have to care about Red Bull so nuts to Horner.

Bob Fernely needs to remember he is a white, rich, businessman before he next opens his mouth about injustices in the world.



Now onto the podium

3rd - Sauber

Since the beginning of testing, right down to the last race of the year and including their policy of squeezing money out of pay drivers/testers, this team has shown nothing but failure. They designed a poor car but with their resources they could not be expected to fix it easily. Where richer teams can throw more cash at problems, Sauber were stuck with the pig they designed and their pig wished it was stuck and put out of it's misery.

Their two drivers were never likely to perform better than the car, and they were both signed because they brought funding (though Sutil less so) so in the end the team fully expected to score a few points on the cheap owing to early season reliability and had nopthing more going for them all season long.

The disgraceful way they went on to complain about revenue sharing and threatend protests unless they got what they never realistically deserved makes Sauber in 2014 something to forget.

You can totally forgive Caterham and Marussia for any similarities, but those teams operated on a wing and a prayer. Sauber get no.3 but one team beats them to no.2


2nd - McLaren

Disgracefull or delusional?

Veteran champion salvages 5th place in constructors, narrowly allowing Goliath to beat David. His reward is an accusation that his salary demands are apparently too high and he is urged to acquire more personal sponsorship. Yeah, the same guy who secured what could be tens of millions for the team by dragging their car into 5th in the WCC.
Young rookie stars on debut and scores a podium. He is encouraged to be agressive on track which costs the team valuable points, causes Magnussen's racecraft to be called into question ("He goes for gaps where there aren't any") and ultimately may lose him a drive for next year.

The money, resources, personell McLaren employ are in a complete disconnect with the cars they design and on track performance.
Sauber at least knew they were in some **** as the year began, McLaren consistently fail to realise they are a bloated, underachieving midfield team no matter what the mirror lies to them. And unlike Williams, whose owner famously never respects anything less than a win, they are not prepared to dig deep to find solutions and lack dignity needed to face being down in the dumps.

For insisting that they are above being "down in the dumps" and behaving like a dysfunctional family of spoilt milionaires, their results in 2014 deserve nothing less than one of the ROTY spots.


1st - Bianchi accident

By far the most depressing and dissapointing thing that happened all year.

It was more than bad luck. The tractors didn't need to be there. The dangers of a car sliding underneath one were known. The way safety cars are arbitrarily decided is unneccesary, regulations can be drafted to standadise SC procedures. Delta times are unneccesary too, pit lane can and should be closed until the SC picks up the leader and bunches up the pack, that eliminates cars bombing into the pits and eliminates racing under yellows.

The accident proves that it is dangerous to weight up the damage caused by a safety car, the duration of it's stay which is often endless and the individual team's desires to pit their cars at the most advantageous moment of the race. If one man has to consider these pressures when deciding wheter to interrupt the race, then safety can become compromised. We all hate to see races interrupted for minor incidents, but we lost Bianchi purely because the race wan't stopped (by safety car) when there was a danger on the track. And the tractor in the gravel trap, which acts as a collection area for cars that slide off the track, should only be allowed if the race was neutralised first, ALL the cars forced to slow down, or if there was a dire need to risk life and limb in sending out people, cars or tractors onto the track immediatly.

We would have bitched about how the race was interrupted for Sutil's spin, esp. since he was unhurt. But the next lap Bianchi either would not have spun off, or he would have hit the barrier next to where Sutil's car was, and would have walked away unhurt. And we would have never known it could have ended otherwise.

I am frustrated by interruptions, i admit this. And i hate racing being compromised for safety concerns where it seems pointless. But, safety in F1 is beginning to show signs of silliness. In Abu Dhabi, marshals ran across track under only double yellows in order to put out a car on fire. Maybe there was no fire extinguisher on the other side or it failed. Marshalls also ran across track in Hockenheim, this time to push Sutil's stalled Sauber. There were throngs of people in the pit lane, it was crazy to order marshalls to run across.

Even if my little safety spiel means nothing in regards to Bianchi, it's still the saddest and most regretfull thing that hapened this year, so it goes to no. 1 despite not really fitting the spirit of the ROTY award.

It's the thing i most hated seeing.

[FMecha]

3. Vettel's luck/reliability
2. Sauber
1. Tie between the state of F1 and myself.

[UncreativeUsername37]

Sky F1 and Lewisteria - grew increasingly unbearable as the season progressed. I'm aware they have to pander to the casuals to try boost viewing figures, but it got beyond a joke at some points. Whether it was reading out silly conspiracy theory tweets to give air to those views (while lazily disagreeing with them), selling Nico short, focussing almost all coverage on Hamilton, or just general fanboyism, Sky became unbearable to watch. And it's not even like you can switch over to the BBC anymore - no Gary Anderson, no Martin Brundle, and the insufferable David 'just call me a Red Bull mouthpiece' Coulthard.

I get that there is a massive following in England, and that commentators naturally want to focus on local drivers - the Australian commentary team were notorious for talking Mark Webber up at every opportunity. But what makes it a problem in Sky's case is that they broadcast the world feed. So everyone is subject to their obvious biases. I was especially disappointed to hear Martin Brundle doing it.

I remember after Brazil in 2012 (I think), he said the British GP was the best race of the year, but the way he said it you could tell he didn't think so, and just wanted to say "British GP was the best" to keep someone happy. That's the only other one I remember, but there may be many less blatant things that I just half-noticed and forgot about.

[Cynon]

Lucky Bastard: Sauber
Got beaten by Marussia, had a weaker driver lineup than most GP3 teams, so much so that their drivers couldn't even get one 10th place. They were getting podiums two years ago, and while they don't have the money to compete with the big dogs, getting at least one point should not have been that tall of an order.

Bronze: Yellow Flag Rules
Just bring out more bathplugging safety cars. None of this virtual yellow flag shite. If you need to bring a crane on-track, bring out a safety car. There's a reason they do this in IndyCar racing as much as they do. Incidents like Bianchi's and this are why.

Silver: Caterham
Failed to capitalize on opportunities, got beaten by Marussia, absolutely mindless management (and management structure), they're getting investigated by the authorities IIRC, and frankly, F1 would be better off without them.

Gold: Competition Level
This felt like the least competitive year in F1 since 1988. At least in the Ferrari/Schumi and Vettel years, there was a solid battle throughout the field. So many races seemed entirely dependent on the car, so many results (particularly after the Belgian Grand Prix) felt like they were pre-arranged. The off-track drama was certainly entertaining, but in parts I felt the on-track product was a bit lacking. Only two teams won races all season long -- that's not a good sign...

Church of Hamiltonna: The Church of Senna has relocated to Britain.
Engines: They are too expensive. I repeat. They are too expensive. They sound fine but they don't sound like F1 engines, they sound like they belong in GP2. IndyCar got it right. Again.
Marcus Ericsson: Never deserved his seat on merit, and never caused enough mayhem to actually warrant any kind of amusement... and that's the worst of all.
McLaren: Other than Australia and Abu Dhabi, they had a Strategy Group position, the best engine, and still ran midfield with it.

[golic_2004]

Silver

Sky F1 and Lewisteria - grew increasingly unbearable as the season progressed. I'm aware they have to pander to the casuals to try boost viewing figures, but it got beyond a joke at some points. Whether it was reading out silly conspiracy theory tweets to give air to those views (while lazily disagreeing with them), selling Nico short, focussing almost all coverage on Hamilton, or just general fanboyism, Sky became unbearable to watch. And it's not even like you can switch over to the BBC anymore - no Gary Anderson, no Martin Brundle, and the insufferable David 'just call me a Red Bull mouthpiece' Coulthard.

I am so sorry you have to put up with those three. That's one reason why I watch NBC Sports with Leigh Diffey, David Hobbs and Steve Matchett with Will Buxton. No nonsense or anything that would make you want to jam screwdrivers through your ears.

[pablo_h]

Leigh Diffey?
LOL. I put up enough with him 10 or so years ago with world superbike, plus some local stuff here in Australia. No thanks, would rather have the current brit F1 commentators.

[Salamander]

Leigh Diffey?
LOL. I put up enough with him 10 or so years ago with world superbike, plus some local stuff here in Australia. No thanks, would rather have the current brit F1 commentators.

I'd trade you Crofty for him. Diffey's done a good enough job commenting on IndyCar this year - better than the Lewisteria I've heard from Crofty, in any event.

[Londoner]

Honourable mentions:

The F1 fanbase - We've been bloody awful this year. From the constant bitching, moaning and complaining about such trivial things like the sound of the new engines (don't like it? Stop being such a casual and deal with it, imo.), to the tribalism of different driver fanbases on the internet, to the return of booing drivers on the podium, up to starting ridiculous conspiracy theories about Mercedes, we've been an absolute shambles.

Lotus - Only just managed to break into double figures before the end of the season. A highly flawed car with the worst engine. At one point in the season, Gary Anderson described the E22 as "the worst racing car he had ever seen in his life", which I believe was during practice at Monza. Made two decent drivers look like complete also-rans for most of the season. But unlike a certain team on my ROTY podium, when the chance for points came occasionally, they made the most of it, with demon drives from Grosjean at Spain and Monaco, and the Reverend at Texas saving their blushes. Next year's already looking more positive. A Mercedes engine, a simple chassis design, and with GRSJN and The Reverend still on board, they should hopefully be back towards the sharp end of the grid.

3rd - Kimi Raikkonen - He pretty much stopped caring after Australia. I know the car was an absolute pig, but at least Alonso kept himself motivated enough to drive it at the sharp end of the field for most of the season. Kimi scored half of Alonso's total this season. That's unacceptable. And then there were races like Malaysia, where after a first lap incident, he decided to troll around with the Caterhams for most of the afternoon, instead of mounting a recovery drive, Texas (I have no idea what he was doing all afternoon), and Great Britain (yeah, let's rejoin the circuit at full speed over the grass. Can't see a problem here). Kimi's a shell of the driver he was in the mid-2000s, and 2012-mid 2013 even, and it's really sad to see. 2015 is almost certainly his swansong.

2nd - Sauber - For the first 20 years of their existence (including the BMW years), Sauber always managed to score points. It seemed highly implausible at the start of the season that they would go pointless for an entire season. Surely they would snaffle a few points here and there? But no. An overweight dog of a car, and two stooges at the wheel = disaster. Sutil was signed to lead the team forward with his experience, and help Gutierrez develop. He did neither of these things. Hell, Guti was the stronger driver, and if the car hadn't crapped itself at Singapore, he might well have scored. But by then, the team had already choked its best chance of points. I'd like to imagine Monisha Kaltenborn and the mechanics beating Guti and Sutil senseless with air guns in the Monte Carlo paddock post-race, after both of them decided that crashing was much more fun than, you know, scoring points. The worst thing is? I honestly think things are gonna get worse for Sauber. The reduced amount of TV money is going to harm them in the years to come.

1st - The state of F1 - I refer you to tommykl and dinizintheoven's posts in this thread.

[Aguaman]

3. Lewisteria - Not the driver's fault but geez Nick was treated by dirt from the British Media badly. As bad as Michael Slater going wet over Dave Warner.

2. Sauber - Knew they were going to be dire. So yeah not surprised and plus they weren't like off track rejectfulness like Caterham.

1. Caterham - The whole Kamui thing, Albers and Kolles ditching them and then more and more issues

HM: Kimi - Bland as airplane potatoes.

[Rob Dylan]

3. Lewisteria - Not the driver's fault but geez Nick was treated by dirt from the British Media badly. As bad as Michael Slater going wet over Dave Warner.

Media definitely deserve at least an honourable mention. They've had the psychological edge over everyone this year. The amount of assumption and nonsense speculation about things which are either irrelevant or silly to even attempt to form an opinion on was unbelievable. Trying to get a story or opinion on the slightest thing that might get the two lead drivers riled up, not realising that nobody was taking them seriously. And after all this, they never questioned the motivation of their television audiences!

[SuperAguri]

3 - Sauber

Since they were formed back in 1993, Sauber have scored a 6th place or better at least once a season. Even if they cut it close in 2010 with a single 6th and 2011 with a single 5th. This year they managed two 11th places. Last year Esteban Gutiérrez scored a single 7th compared to Nico Hulkenbergs haul of points, so they should have really looked around for a better driver then Adrain Sutil if they needed Esterbans money. Really they should have got Kamui back in as he probably would have performed better then Sutil did. Maybe the Ferrari V6 Turbo was down on power compared to the other teams but the drivers let them down big time. It is hard to see how they will improve next year.

2 - Kimi Räikkönen

Kimi was destroyed by Alonso, only a single race this season did Kimi finish in front of Alonso (ignoring retirements and Kimi never looked like troubling the podium. He must have had a good manager to get him a contract for 2015 as most teams would have decided to look for a younger talent. Maybe he has been kept as he will be Vettels bitch but we shall see.

1 - Sebastian Vettel

A lot of people will disagree but compared to Daniel Ricciardo he struggled, a mere 3 podiums on the bottom step and struggling with the car all season showed that the champion couldn't cope with the new regulations despite others doing better including his team mate who got 3 wins and 5 podiums (which should have been six if not for his DSQ). Hopefully Vettel going to Ferrari will give him more confidence but the Ferrari V6 does look weaker then most engines including the Renault that he might fail to win in 2015 as well.

Honrable mention - Double Points - Thankfully now dead.

[Alextrax52]

3 - Sauber

Since they were formed back in 1993, Sauber have scored a 6th place or better at least once a season. Even if they cut it close in 2010 with a single 6th and 2011 with a single 5th. This year they managed two 11th places. Last year Esteban Gutiérrez scored a single 7th compared to Nico Hulkenbergs haul of points, so they should have really looked around for a better driver then Adrain Sutil if they needed Esterbans money. Really they should have got Kamui back in as he probably would have performed better then Sutil did. Maybe the Ferrari V6 Turbo was down on power compared to the other teams but the drivers let them down big time. It is hard to see how they will improve next year.

2 - Kimi Räikkönen

Kimi was destroyed by Alonso, only a single race this season did Kimi finish in front of Alonso (ignoring retirements and Kimi never looked like troubling the podium. He must have had a good manager to get him a contract for 2015 as most teams would have decided to look for a younger talent. Maybe he has been kept as he will be Vettels bitch but we shall see.

1 - Sebastian Vettel

A lot of people will disagree but compared to Daniel Ricciardo he struggled, a mere 3 podiums on the bottom step and struggling with the car all season showed that the champion couldn't cope with the new regulations despite others doing better including his team mate who got 3 wins and 5 podiums (which should have been six if not for his DSQ). Hopefully Vettel going to Ferrari will give him more confidence but the Ferrari V6 does look weaker then most engines including the Renault that he might fail to win in 2015 as well.

Honrable mention - Double Points - Thankfully now dead.

Vettel finished 2nd in Singapore

[Rob Dylan]

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/12/08/2014-f1-season-review-driver-rankings-22-16/
F1Fanatic (a.k.a. Keith) have Max Chilton as reject of the year. Discuss.

[DanielPT]

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/12/08/2014-f1-season-review-driver-rankings-22-16/
F1Fanatic (a.k.a. Keith) have Max Chilton as reject of the year. Discuss.

Keith is just a fan of the sport who happens to have a blog/website where he post stuff about F1, eventually writing some of it himself. Like most of fans, he was pretty much looking at the front of the grid immersed in a championship fight which happened to involve his favourite driver and thus probably preventing him from looking elsewhere in the grid. Reading what he wrote about the back end of the grid folks he based his opinion in stats only and in some cases not even that, while forgetting everything else including any sense of perspective. Not unexpected.

[Rob Dylan]

[url]<a class="linkification-ext" href="http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/12/08/2014-f1-season-review-driver-rankings-22-16/" title="Linkification: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/12/08/2 ... ngs-22-16/">http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/12/08/2014-f1-season-review-driver-rankings-22-16/</a>[/url]
F1Fanatic (a.k.a. Keith) have Max Chilton as reject of the year. Discuss.

Keith is just a fan of the sport who happens to have a blog/website where he post stuff about F1, eventually writing some of it himself. Like most of fans, he was pretty much looking at the front of the grid immersed in a championship fight which happened to involve his favourite driver and thus probably preventing him from looking elsewhere in the grid. Reading what he wrote about the back end of the grid folks he based his opinion in stats only and in some cases not even that, while forgetting everything else including any sense of perspective. Not unexpected.

I am confused as to why Raikkonen's not there tbh or why Vergne is there! All opinion at the end of the day I guess

[Salamander]

I am confused as to why Raikkonen's not there tbh or why Vergne is there! All opinion at the end of the day I guess

Collantine often lets his own personal bias cloud his judgement.

[DanielPT]

I am confused as to why Raikkonen's not there tbh or why Vergne is there! All opinion at the end of the day I guess

Collantine often lets his own personal bias cloud his judgement.

At least he doesn't hide it nor denies it, from what I can see.

Anyway, I would chose my 22 driver ranking like this:

22 - Kimi Raikkonen
21 - Adrian Sutil
20 - Pastor Maldonado
19 - Esteban Gutierrez
18 - Marcus Ericsson
17 - Max Chilton
16 - Kamui Kobayashi
15 - Sebastian Vettel
14 - Kevin Magnussen
13 - Daniil Kvyat
12 - Romain Grosjean
11 - Jean-Eric Vergne
10 - Sergio Perez
9 - Nico Hulkenberg
8 - Jenson Button
7 - Filipe Massa
6 - Fernando Alonso
5 - Valtteri Bottas
4 - Nico Rosberg
3 - Jules Bianchi
2 - Daniel Ricciardo
1 - Lewis Hamilton