Reject of the Race - Austria 2024

[Londoner]

1. Max Verstappen. Complete and utter head loss, not what we've come to expect at all. Even before the inevitable contact he was all over the place with constant reactive moves against Norris.

2. Fernando Alonso. Retire old man.

[RAK]

1) Max Verstappen: A return to the Bad Old Max of several years ago. A likely victory thrown away in a pique of madness.

2) Fernando Alonso: A dismally slow performance which underpinned the slow pace post-upgrades of the Aston Martin.

[You-Gee-Eee-Day]

1. The stewards for taking a lifetime of the earth to decide what to do, so Max and Lando made the decision themselves.
2. Perez - his teammate had a puncture, pitted, and got a 10 second penalty - and perez was still miles behind him.

[Ciaran]

1. Fernando Alonso, for thinking that if he finished 18th nobody would realise he's more washed than Perez.
2. The stewards for taking about 90 seconds to activate the VSC while Turn 3 is strewn with debris.

[Enforcer]

Max Verstappen:
Overdid his attempt to squeeze Lando and collided with him, screwing both of them over. It's compounded by the fact that it wasn't necessary, as either Max or his team should've realised that Lando was imminently going to get a penalty, meaning that even if Max dropped behind him, all he'd have to is stay within 5 seconds, which would've been relatively easy.

Reminds me of 2021 when Max over-defended against Lewis several times late in the season and eventually was passed each time anyway. Stupid eejit.

F1 penalty rules:
You're a very naughty boy Max, have a 10s penalty that'll cost you 0 positions. I'm specifying the penalty rules rather than the stewards as the stewards are stuck with a flawed rulebook.

[Meatwad]

Max Verstappen: After a pretty much flawless start to the season, this was a return to the Jeddah 2021 spirit. I'm glad he didn't win, though of course Norris had to be the one who had to retire (so some of the typical Verstappen luck was there).

Dishonorable mention to the stewards who came out looking quite biased at times.

[sswishbone]

Max Verstappen - a brilliant duel ruined because he was way too aggressive

Open radio court hearings - this whole "play up infringements for penalties" has got to stop. It not only generates poor inter-team radio banter, it prejudices all steward reviews.

[mario]

Max Verstappen:
Overdid his attempt to squeeze Lando and collided with him, screwing both of them over. It's compounded by the fact that it wasn't necessary, as either Max or his team should've realised that Lando was imminently going to get a penalty, meaning that even if Max dropped behind him, all he'd have to is stay within 5 seconds, which would've been relatively easy.

Reminds me of 2021 when Max over-defended against Lewis several times late in the season and eventually was passed each time anyway. Stupid eejit.

F1 penalty rules:
You're a very naughty boy Max, have a 10s penalty that'll cost you 0 positions. I'm specifying the penalty rules rather than the stewards as the stewards are stuck with a flawed rulebook.

If anything, having a collision with Norris was advantageous for Verstappen - because Norris failed to score any points and Leclerc still finished behind Verstappen, instead of potentially losing ground in the WDC, he's increased his lead over Norris.

[rachel1990]

1. Max Verstappen. The red mist came back and swallowed him hard. Squeezed Lando and cost himself a victory and took out another driver. Reacted to Landos previous attempts and Lando was right about a collision coming.

2. F1 penalties. I'm sorry but the 10 second penalty for the collision was not needed for this race. No it should have been a grid drop for the British gp. The rules should allow the stewards to see what the circumstances are and what the consequences should be.

[IceG]

(1) Charles Leclerc's luck - can it get any worse?

(2) Fernando Alonso for terrible driving

(3) Sergio Perez for taking a good seat based on selling a few tee-shirts in Lat-Am and then doing nothing with it

[Ducktanian]

Max Verstappen - It can only really be Max.

[dr-baker]

Max Verstappen:
Overdid his attempt to squeeze Lando and collided with him, screwing both of them over. It's compounded by the fact that it wasn't necessary, as either Max or his team should've realised that Lando was imminently going to get a penalty, meaning that even if Max dropped behind him, all he'd have to is stay within 5 seconds, which would've been relatively easy.

Reminds me of 2021 when Max over-defended against Lewis several times late in the season and eventually was passed each time anyway. Stupid eejit.

F1 penalty rules:
You're a very naughty boy Max, have a 10s penalty that'll cost you 0 positions. I'm specifying the penalty rules rather than the stewards as the stewards are stuck with a flawed rulebook.

If anything, having a collision with Norris was advantageous for Verstappen - because Norris failed to score any points and Leclerc still finished behind Verstappen, instead of potentially losing ground in the WDC, he's increased his lead over Norris.

Basically this.

[James1978]

Max - I honestly thought he'd matured since 2021 but it appears not. That collision was reminiscent of Hamilton/Rosberg in 2016 (with Max being Rosberg and Lando being Hamilton).

Alonso - is he finally past it? Though he took fastest lap off Max at the end which I thought was hilarious

Perez - couldn't even get past a Haas.

Next race - Great BRITIAN for something comedic

[Alextrax52]

Red Bull’s slow pitstop: Just like Monza 2021 the normally masterful Red Bull pit crew turning out a Sauber-esque pitstop was the catalyst for a collision between Verstappen and his biggest rival

Max Verstappen/Lando Norris: Max had another Senna and Schumacher moment where he just can’t stand to lose and it cost him dearly. However Lando definitely poked the bear by trying the dive bomb move over and over again and as it turned out he would have lost the win anyway through track limits. Lando’s post race interview made me laugh as well, basically saying “if he doesn’t apologise we’re not friends”. Come on now.

HM: The stewards: If only they’d been proactive and given Norris a time penalty for track limits earlier then the collision might not have happened

HM: Sergio Perez: Yes he picked up a bit of floor and sidepod damage but the fact remains that he finished behind a Haas on merit and his team mate did a full lap with a puncture, got slapped with a 10 second penalty and still finished 15 seconds ahead of him. He’ll finish 8th in the championship and be the only driver from the top 4 teams not to win this year mark my words.

HM: Aston Martin: What more do you need to say other than Jaguar 2.0? The upgrades they make have no improvements, Alonso’s looked past it since Imola and even made the mediocre Stroll look half decent once or twice. Where are they going as an F1 team?

[Har1MAS1415]

1) Max, you had it coming, mate, both Norris and this ROTR nomination, that is.

2) Track limits, just how many penalties were handed out or at least hinted at because of drivers crossing white lines? Changes are going to have to made or at least discussed before next year's race.

[Wallio]

Max - Looks like the kid that had a rule named after him and not a soon to be 4x World Champion.

Leclerc - Embarrasingly bad weekend and has been throughly beaten by a currently unemployed for 2025 driver basically since Monaco.

Ocon - When the commentary team is openly talking about how everyone hates you, maybe it's a sign?

Piastri - My hot take pick. Had he had a better early race he could have saved the world from Russell. He does seem completely outclassed by Lando, which was unthinkable last season.

The Red Bull Ring itself - I do enjoy this track, but I'm starting to agree with everyone online who says it just isn't fit for F1. Pity we never got Red Bull's original design from years ago.

[Jarvis]

Max - I honestly thought he'd matured since 2021 but it appears not. That collision was reminiscent of Hamilton/Rosberg in 2016 (with Max being Rosberg and Lando being Hamilton).

Alonso - is he finally past it? Though he took fastest lap off Max at the end which I thought was hilarious

Perez - couldn't even get past a Haas.

Next race - Great BRITIAN for something comedic

How can someone get the fastest lap and finish P18

[mario]

Piastri - My hot take pick. Had he had a better early race he could have saved the world from Russell. He does seem completely outclassed by Lando, which was unthinkable last season.

Yes, Piastri does seem to have been a bit of a disappointment this season - considering the expectations that people had of Piastri, I think many were expecting that this season would see him kicking on from his form in 2023.

Instead, whilst Piastri has still had a respectable enough season, he does still seem to be slightly eclipsed by Norris - particularly in race trim, where Piastri still seems to have not found the right balance between pace and tyre life. It's certainly not as bad as Perez's situation at Red Bull, where Verstappen has walked over him so much that you could repurpose him as a doormat, but he's also not closed the gap in a way that I think some were expecting him to.