2015 Australian GP ROTR Thread

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 15 Mar 2015, 06:37

1. Reliability
2. Sauber court case

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 15 Mar 2015, 06:44

1) Renault - Two engine failures in one weekend when only four all season for a driver is pretty pathetic

2) Ferrari Pit Crew - Destroyed Raikonnen's race twice

Dishonourable mention - Arnie doing the interviews!

Post by **Londoner** » 15 Mar 2015, 06:45

Pitstops - A lot of mistakes today.
F1 off-track - The whole Sauber fiasco, and then losing both Manors, Bottas, Kvyat and K-Mags before the race even started. All in all, not a good way to begin the new season.

But ROTR has to go to:

Sergio Perez - Let's be honest, he didn't deserve to score. Incredibly scrappy and error-strewn performance today.

More_Blue_Flags · Post by **More_Blue_Flags** » 15 Mar 2015, 06:50

With only eleven finishers, the only one that is two laps down and out of the points is the only McLaren to finish.

DOSBoot · Post by **DOSBoot** » 15 Mar 2015, 06:52

1. Pre Race Shenanigans: Sauber's legal troubles, Manor failing to qualify, and the two retirements before the race even started.

2. Pit Stops: So many mistakes.

Can't give it to reliability in general because that's what some of us have been wanting for quite a while now.

gnrpoison · Post by **gnrpoison** » 15 Mar 2015, 06:54

1. The Starting grid, 15 cars is a horrible amount, in 1993 we 10 extra cars at the first round and 11 more in some other years. FIA, Bernie whoever, sort it out so we can have at least 13 teams to attempt to race, granted reliability did not help today. However if you have only 9 teams who can race any problems will reduce the starting amount.
2. The 2015 Australian Grand Prix weekend, from Manor not being able to run, the court case, the reliability, McLaren barely able to run, Bottas not starting, cars blowing up before the race. Pit stip problems, lowest number of starters in 50 years (I know Indy 2005 but at least the cars completed a warmup lap). The whole weekend felt rejectful and overshadowed the racing.

Normal32 · Post by **Normal32** » 15 Mar 2015, 07:03

I will nominate the left-rear wheels.

AdrianBelmonte_ · Post by **AdrianBelmonte_** » 15 Mar 2015, 07:04

1. Sergio Pérez
2. The starting grid

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 15 Mar 2015, 07:07

1. The race and all the events leading up to it.
Honourable mentions:
Ferrari pit-crew
McLaren
Renault engines

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 15 Mar 2015, 07:15

The Whole field bar Mercedes

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 15 Mar 2015, 07:20

1. Left-rear tyre changers, all the pitstop problems were there today.
2. Renault engines.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 15 Mar 2015, 07:23

Many tried to take it from McLaren, but none did.

GwilymJJames · Post by **GwilymJJames** » 15 Mar 2015, 07:32

Manor Yeah, it's great that they're here, feel good story of the decade, etc, etc. But a big part of the competing in Formula One thing involves actually getting a car onto the track. I was as much a part of this race weekend as they were.

sw3ishida · Post by **sw3ishida** » 15 Mar 2015, 07:38

I can't really see past it being McLaren. Button being the only driver not to score in an 11 car finish will be extremely disappointing for them and shows just how far behind expectations they are after all the early excitement about their switch to Honda.

Post by **Miguel98** » 15 Mar 2015, 07:50

1. Sergio Perez
Awful performance. Error prone, and spent most of the race fighting Button, who was more busy trying to make the car finish, than anything else.

2. Renault
Having 50% of your drivers not finish is bad. Both of them by problems with the engine is even worse.

rachel1990 · Post by **rachel1990** » 15 Mar 2015, 08:00

um Tough one-

Perez is worth a mention and only scored because Mclaren Honda could do nothing. As is Renault. - I doubt its the cars that are poor. Red Bull may have a think about Honda after this. The Pit stops as well caused chaos!

But I think the Entire Weekend Of the Race wins. Court cases 2 drivers not starting the race 1 team not even entering the race and only 11 cars finishing. And proving that Mercedes may win every race this year as well.!!!

DVST8R · Post by **DVST8R** » 15 Mar 2015, 08:25

Such a rejectful weekend all round. From the Sauber shenanigans to Manor not turning a wheel all weekend, McLaren's woeful performance and Renault's blowing up all over the place.

However, I would have to give it to Bernie's message to Ron Walker that was put on the start/finish line,

Leyton House · Post by **Leyton House** » 15 Mar 2015, 08:27

Ferrari for not helping Manor get their engines started.
Monisha Kaltenborn for ruining Sauber.
Honda.

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 15 Mar 2015, 09:41

Leyton House wrote:Ferrari for not helping Manor get their engines started.

Name one team that would have done that for free.

Zergon · Post by **Zergon** » 15 Mar 2015, 09:55

Dempting to name pre-race antics with all the court cases and stuff but I´m trying to keep this one on what actually happened in track... and that would had been a close call but then Räikkönen´s second pitstop happened and I knew I had my ROTR.

That said, based on were they were last year and were they are now, McLaren certainly deserves honorable mention even though I guess Button´s race was about as good as it could had been.

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 15 Mar 2015, 10:03

Gotta be this whole weekend. Everything seems like a complete mess on and off the track at the moment.

Gun to my head, I can't tell you if Manor or McLaren is the one I would pick if you made me pick an answer other than a copout.

Enforcer · Post by **Enforcer** » 15 Mar 2015, 11:04

F1. 15 cars started the race. Excluding the the 2005 US Grand Prix, when has it ever been that low?

girry · Post by **girry** » 15 Mar 2015, 11:25

It's a difficult one but for me, Checo narrowly edges out the McLaren-Hondas since Button managed to finish.

MinardiFan95 · Post by **MinardiFan95** » 15 Mar 2015, 11:25

The State of Formula One in 2015 has to be reject of the race for obvious reasons: we've got a team that were at the track but couldn't run their cars as the required software was wiped from their computers in preparation for the auction of their assets before being saved at the eleventh hour; another team that had to drop a pay-driver after signing the contract due to having to sign another driver who brought more funding to the team, plus the subsequent court action that's dominated F1 headlines the past week; the Ferrari team boss going out into the general admission areas in protest of less paddock access for fans; and the fact that the grid for the first race of the season only had 15 cars line up.

Valrys · Post by **Valrys** » 15 Mar 2015, 11:28

Enforcer wrote:F1. 15 cars started the race. Excluding the the 2005 US Grand Prix, when has it ever been that low?

To be fair though, of the no starters, 2 cars were from a team that only existed and took its cars out of storage a handful of weeks before showing up at the track, 1 was a freak injury to a driver at a point where he can't be swapped out, and the other 2 were down to awful reliability which is a common first round thing, and something a lot of fans were keen to see.

People prophesying the death of F1 should be looking elsewhere than the start of the 2015 Aus GP

My ROTR goes to the Sauber Shenanigans

johnston21 · Post by **johnston21** » 15 Mar 2015, 11:32

My choice: Christian Horner, re: his post-race comments; http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/194721.html

Post by **mario** » 15 Mar 2015, 11:54

rachel1990 wrote:um Tough one-

Perez is worth a mention and only scored because Mclaren Honda could do nothing. As is Renault. - I doubt its the cars that are poor. Red Bull may have a think about Honda after this. The Pit stops as well caused chaos!

But I think the Entire Weekend Of the Race wins. Court cases 2 drivers not starting the race 1 team not even entering the race and only 11 cars finishing. And proving that Mercedes may win every race this year as well.!!!

Really, in many ways the answer is effectively "anybody but Mercedes".

Sauber performed surprisingly well on track (to be honest, I expected them to fall behind, not pull away from, the Red Bull's and Toro Rosso's), their management behind the scenes is shambolic and threatens to destroy the team.

Ferrari showed OK race pace, but Vettel still finished over 34 seconds off the lead (and given he only pulled out a small lead over Massa, it wasn't as if Massa was really holding him up that much) and their problems with Kimi blew a chance to establish a strong lead over Williams early on.

Williams, in turn, had a solid weekend but may have thrown away a podium after calling in Massa at the wrong time, whilst Bottas's back problems cost the team a chance to pick up more solid points.

Red Bull and Toro Rosso both had a nightmare weekend, in many ways - both outfits have had major reliability issues, despite Renault supposedly having focussed most of the winter on fixing reliability issues, and it was painfully clear on the straights that Renault are also severely lacking power too. Add to that the drivability issues - with Ricciardo complaining during the race that he couldn't actually tell how worn the rear tyres were because the car was so unpredictable - and Horner's increasingly desperate attempts to have Mercedes hobbled, and it's clear that they are really up a certain creek without a certain implement...

Force India, frankly, were lucky in many ways to score points - Hulkenberg salvaged the best he could for an underprepared team, but Perez made a real hash of passing Button and was somewhat fortunate to score points more by dint of simply being there to collect them rather than any great skill on his part.

Lotus, meanwhile, ended their race in the wrong way - one car in the garage and the other in the barriers - although their qualifying performance at least offers some encouragement.

As for McLaren, well, what more can be said? Whilst Button at least covered some useful mileage, which might give some encouragement to the team, Magnussen's engine failure will be a harsh reminder that things are not going to get better quickly (and makes a bad situation for Alonso even worse if he's already down one engine before the season gets under way). It's not often that Ron Dennis is speechless, but even he was really struggling for words (and in one interview almost sounded close to tears).

Finally, Manor at least made it out there, but although it was impressive that they simply got to the paddock, we've still not yet actually seen either the car or its drivers in action. The only consolation is that they might at least have a chance of beating McLaren in the next few races...

As Massa pointed out before this race, Mercedes really did look as if they simply were in a different category compared to their rivals, from the sheer pace they could unleash to the fact that even their pit stops were the quickest and slickest in the field.
Even then, it looked as if Hamilton had Rosberg under control for the whole race, despite Rosberg's claims that he was focussing on his race performance and fuel saving tactics to beat Hamilton. If Hamilton continues on the rest of the season in this form, I think that Nico will be very hard pressed to match him.

SeedStriker · Post by **SeedStriker** » 15 Mar 2015, 12:50

While the political shenanigans were top kek, it made the MERCWINSLOL tolerable. So that means...

1) McLaren Honda: One of the so-called top teams is now a shadow of it's former self. A gutless engine, a car that seems evil to drive, and Magnussen inability to reach the grid after his engine gave up the ghost only means a terrible future for them.

2) Right Rear Tire Wheelnut: Pit crews need more practice

Dishonorable mentions to Sergio Pérez (erratic race that somewhat save JB's afternoon for a while) and Renault (Red Bull-based teams already have 3 destroyed engines)

The Well, al least we try to do it Award goes to Manor for NoDataGate

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 15 Mar 2015, 12:58

Sergio Perez - I genuinely believed at one point that he would be beaten home by Jenson Button.

tc3j3r · Post by **tc3j3r** » 15 Mar 2015, 14:50

McLaren. They're a joke.

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 15 Mar 2015, 14:52

MinardiFan95 wrote:The State of Formula One in 2015 has to be reject of the race for obvious reasons: we've got a team that were at the track but couldn't run their cars as the required software was wiped from their computers in preparation for the auction of their assets before being saved at the eleventh hour; another team that had to drop a pay-driver after signing the contract due to having to sign another driver who brought more funding to the team, plus the subsequent court action that's dominated F1 headlines the past week; the Ferrari team boss going out into the general admission areas in protest of less paddock access for fans; and the fact that the grid for the first race of the season only had 15 cars line up.

This! I've never wanted to fast-forward a highlights show before. The Mercedes are going to walk it again with maybe some podium crumbs for the other teams. It's gonna be like watch Bayern Munich play my local under-11's - twenty times over!

tBone · Post by **tBone** » 15 Mar 2015, 15:42

Sauber numeracy skills. Simple math question: if you have 2 seats available, how many drivers can you offer a contract for a drive? 4?

Dishonourable mentions for Helmut Marko whining about Renault engines before the first race of the season started, pre-race reliability and Arnold "how much do you have to train" Schwarzenegger.

Press_Play2002 · Post by **Press_Play2002** » 15 Mar 2015, 15:50

Valtteri Bottas' Back: For giving up after a couple of kerbs during quali.

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 15 Mar 2015, 15:56

Mclaren-Honda. Easily their worst race of all times. Enough reason for a ROTR.

Special mention to Red Bull teams. The main team managed to finish behind a Sauber. The Junior team had a lackluster race pace and finished behind a troubled Force India.

I think Toro Rosso could end in the last position in the WCC, if Force India and Mclaren improves.

I don't think Perez deserve the ROTR. Yes, he had a poor race and had troubles with Button, but remember: Perez started the race with the hard tyres, while Button started with the soft ones. I think it was more a poor race strategy from Force India, since he easily overtaken Button after the pitstop.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 15 Mar 2015, 16:00

mario wrote:
rachel1990 wrote:um Tough one-

Perez is worth a mention and only scored because Mclaren Honda could do nothing. As is Renault. - I doubt its the cars that are poor. Red Bull may have a think about Honda after this. The Pit stops as well caused chaos!

But I think the Entire Weekend Of the Race wins. Court cases 2 drivers not starting the race 1 team not even entering the race and only 11 cars finishing. And proving that Mercedes may win every race this year as well.!!!

Really, in many ways the answer is effectively "anybody but Mercedes".

Sauber performed surprisingly well on track (to be honest, I expected them to fall behind, not pull away from, the Red Bull's and Toro Rosso's), their management behind the scenes is shambolic and threatens to destroy the team.

Ferrari showed OK race pace, but Vettel still finished over 34 seconds off the lead (and given he only pulled out a small lead over Massa, it wasn't as if Massa was really holding him up that much) and their problems with Kimi blew a chance to establish a strong lead over Williams early on.

Williams, in turn, had a solid weekend but may have thrown away a podium after calling in Massa at the wrong time, whilst Bottas's back problems cost the team a chance to pick up more solid points.

Red Bull and Toro Rosso both had a nightmare weekend, in many ways - both outfits have had major reliability issues, despite Renault supposedly having focussed most of the winter on fixing reliability issues, and it was painfully clear on the straights that Renault are also severely lacking power too. Add to that the drivability issues - with Ricciardo complaining during the race that he couldn't actually tell how worn the rear tyres were because the car was so unpredictable - and Horner's increasingly desperate attempts to have Mercedes hobbled, and it's clear that they are really up a certain creek without a certain implement...

Force India, frankly, were lucky in many ways to score points - Hulkenberg salvaged the best he could for an underprepared team, but Perez made a real hash of passing Button and was somewhat fortunate to score points more by dint of simply being there to collect them rather than any great skill on his part.

Lotus, meanwhile, ended their race in the wrong way - one car in the garage and the other in the barriers - although their qualifying performance at least offers some encouragement.

As for McLaren, well, what more can be said? Whilst Button at least covered some useful mileage, which might give some encouragement to the team, Magnussen's engine failure will be a harsh reminder that things are not going to get better quickly (and makes a bad situation for Alonso even worse if he's already down one engine before the season gets under way). It's not often that Ron Dennis is speechless, but even he was really struggling for words (and in one interview almost sounded close to tears).

Finally, Manor at least made it out there, but although it was impressive that they simply got to the paddock, we've still not yet actually seen either the car or its drivers in action. The only consolation is that they might at least have a chance of beating McLaren in the next few races...

As Massa pointed out before this race, Mercedes really did look as if they simply were in a different category compared to their rivals, from the sheer pace they could unleash to the fact that even their pit stops were the quickest and slickest in the field.
Even then, it looked as if Hamilton had Rosberg under control for the whole race, despite Rosberg's claims that he was focussing on his race performance and fuel saving tactics to beat Hamilton. If Hamilton continues on the rest of the season in this form, I think that Nico will be very hard pressed to match him.

This. The whole field bar Mercedes, although I was tempted to make exceptions for a few others, this post reinforces what was my initial thought during the race. Everybody bar maybe a few drivers flamingoed up (hats off to anyone who gets that reference) at some stage. Counting off-track activities, Mercedes are the only ones who didn't do anything that stands out as utterly rejectful.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 15 Mar 2015, 16:02

Sauber -- Overly eventful weekend off the track.
Grid Size -- F1 absolutely needs to fix the grid size. This was almost as much of a joke as the 05 USGP, only nowhere near as fascinating. I'm waiting for F1's grid to dwindle further, because at this rate, it seems inevitable. "Pinnacle of motorsport" my ass.

Zetec · Post by **Zetec** » 15 Mar 2015, 16:09

1. Formula 1 in general
2. Christian Horner, for his pathetic whining.

I mean, I'm watching F1 since 1992, and it is really a shame, what has become of F1.

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 15 Mar 2015, 16:19

Zetec wrote:1. Formula 1 in general
2. Christian Horner, for his pathetic whining.

I mean, I'm watching F1 since 1992, and it is really a shame, what has become of F1.

I've been trying to remember if Mansell had an easier time in '92?

Enforcer · Post by **Enforcer** » 15 Mar 2015, 16:22

Valrys wrote:To be fair though, of the no starters, 2 cars were from a team that only existed and took its cars out of storage a handful of weeks before showing up at the track, 1 was a freak injury to a driver at a point where he can't be swapped out, and the other 2 were down to awful reliability which is a common first round thing, and something a lot of fans were keen to see.

People prophesying the death of F1 should be looking elsewhere than the start of the 2015 Aus GP

My ROTR goes to the Sauber Shenanigans

I appreciate I'm being pessimistic, but not only does the sport seem stale to me (which is a personal thing), but I'm genuinely worried about the future of the grid.

That Manor could only arrived with no testing and a car that they eventually couldn't get to function is a symptom of the sport being completely baw-ways economically. As is a max of only 20 cars on the grid this season once Manor get running. There's also the vdG situation and pay-drivers in general, with Sauber clearly willing to breach contract to obtain a higher paying driver, (and I bet that they're not the first team to do it, vdG is just the first driver to fight it so publically) and probably a third to half of the seats this season being paid for.

I know the demise of F1 has been predicted a lot and yet the show goes on anyway, but this frankly batshit state of affairs surely can't continue forever. Ut feels like teams are barely able to keep this going, and if someone does go, it's hard to see where replacements are going to come from. Manor is the only surviving member of the "new" teams from a few years ago, and they're hanging on by a thread. And after that I think you have to go back to 1999 and BAR (which now exist as Mercedes) for a team which entered the sport and actually survived. Toyota came and went. Super Aguri came and went. Caterham & HRT came and went. Other than that we've just had buying and selling.

Really hope Haas can buck the trend.

LukeB · Post by **LukeB** » 15 Mar 2015, 17:08

It's not really fair to him and it's hardly his fault but there's something particularly sad about being the only driver to finish and not score a point.
So Button. May suddenly be regretting actually fighting to keep his place at that wreck of a team.