Your Reject of the Race - Spain

[Londoner]

1. Apathy. This may actually be the worst F1 season I've witnessed so far, and it shows given that we didn't even open a race discussion thread. I think it's been pointed out that this is the first time in history the same team has scored five 1-2 finishes at the start of a season. Something is badly, perhaps even terminally wrong with the sport if people are switching off in droves, especially on here.

I guess there has to be a second nomination, so Alfa Romeo it is. The first time this year they've looked more like backmarkers than contenders.

[MatthewFirth]

My nomination is Norris, because that crash left so much debris when it shouldn't have done.

My other choice is whoever is to blame for making F1 bad and boring this season....

[Psyclepath]

Picking Ferrari, partially because there's no standout choice. Their fumbling with team orders is not new, but was unimpressive. Letting Leclerc pass Vettel quickly potentially would've given him a chance at Verstappen. Vettel and Leclerc both had slow pitstops - given the gun worked fine later it was either a mechanic error or they replaced the gun. If it was the latter, why didn't they do it straight after Vettel's stop? And whose idea was it to put Leclerc on hard tyres?

Norris, after a good qualifying, was nowhere all race. The collision with Stroll, while unlucky, hinted at a sense of desperation. Sainz was easily the better McLaren this race.

And Alfa Romeo are definitely a nomination.

[lance_rambert]

The whole grid minus Mercedes should be ashamed of themselves. They had six years to get their sh*t together and it's all resolved to this.

I thought 2015 was the worst of it, but nope. Everyone else's performance is just a slap in the face to the sport and its fans.

[dinizintheoven]

I am going to nominate the BBC for deeming this race worthy of merely 55 minutes of radio coverage, thus forcing me to listen to the dreary German commentators on RTL where I only understand 10% of the words at best, and even then they're capable of leaving a minute of silence rather than making even the most cursory attempt to convey their enthusiasm for motorsport. Maybe Christian Danner is still traumatised 30 years after driving the Rial ARC2...

Renault, Norris, the usual gripes about Williams, the race itself, etc.

[Samster]

1. Apathy. This may actually be the worst F1 season I've witnessed so far, and it shows given that we didn't even open a race discussion thread. I think it's been pointed out that this is the first time in history the same team has scored five 1-2 finishes at the start of a season. Something is badly, perhaps even terminally wrong with the sport if people are switching off in droves, especially on here.

I guess there has to be a second nomination, so Alfa Romeo it is. The first time this year they've looked more like backmarkers than contenders.

TenTenths still managed four pages on their thread, honestly I blame the general decline of activity on this forum over the past few years. Only things that are still going strong are the Sassetti forum and the mibbit chat.

Anyway my vote goes to the 2019 season, I honestly have already given up on this season just five races in. I cannot live with a sixth season of Mercedes dominance, just cannot. There was a time when I actively avoided spoilers if I couldn't watch live. Now I have to check a race report before decided whether to even bother and needless to say this one failed to pass that test. Until someone other than Mercedes can at least threaten to win, I see no point in watching.

Mention to Ferrari for yet again proving why they have remained second best for so long. At this point Verstappen looks like winning before either Ferrari.

[Meatwad]

My pick is Alfa Romeo for a terrible weekend. Räikkönen making it to Q2 (which looked unlikely) was the only positive for them in the whole weekend (and even then, a disappointment compared to the last few race weekends). As for the race, Räikkönen running off the track and being last for the first few laps, Giovinazzi getting a weird strategy and the cars being slower than everyone but Williams... what can I say?

[Wallio]

Every other team but Mercedes - Y'all suck! This season has made '92, '02, '04 and '09 look down right nailbiting. Unless Merc decides to shoot themselves in the foot, I truly believe we may witness (or not, since ratings do seem down) the first ever perfect season in F1.

[rachel1990]

I'm not sure what to put really but this

everyone but Mercedes. FIVE 1-2s in a row. Barring Bahrain no-one has got near them. A waste of Updates and time spent.

I Can't even be bothered to go with anyone else no matter what else happened in the race.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1. Apathy. This may actually be the worst F1 season I've witnessed so far, and it shows given that we didn't even open a race discussion thread. I think it's been pointed out that this is the first time in history the same team has scored five 1-2 finishes at the start of a season. Something is badly, perhaps even terminally wrong with the sport if people are switching off in droves, especially on here.

I guess there has to be a second nomination, so Alfa Romeo it is. The first time this year they've looked more like backmarkers than contenders.

TenTenths still managed four pages on their thread, honestly I blame the general decline of activity on this forum over the past few years. Only things that are still going strong are the Sassetti forum and the mibbit chat.

Yeah, it's this. There were times last year when there was almost no race thread at all even when the title battle was alive.

I think the Ferrari and Alfa nominations should be combined under Fiat Chrysler Automobiles - More like Fiat Crisis Automobiles! Or something...

[CaptainGetz12]

1) Alfa Romeo. Didn't do well in qualifying, and weren't able to make the race pace we've seen the last few races. Hopefully just a fluke?

2) Ferrari's Pit Strategy. Who thought putting Leclerc on the Hard compound was a good idea???

(Dis)Honorable Mentions:
Romain Grosjean (Overdrove it several times in an attempt to pass his teammate)
Renault (Stuck in the midfield, with no points to show leaving Spain)
The Race Itself (Probably not what the track owners wanted to see when their Grand Prix may be on the chopping block to make way for a Dutch GP)

[Spectoremg]

Ferrari: dismal in several departments.
Dishonourable mention: This circuit. I'm heartened to hear that it's under threat. There can't be many micky mouse circuits that have screwed up a corner to make it worse!

[Paul Hayes]

The safety car, or those who caused it at least - a rare example of a safety car actually making a race less exciting. It would have been interesting to see what happened with Hamilton's tyre.

[FortiWinks]

It’s when you can’t think of any notable candidates it becomes an issue... errr... nah, I’ve got nothing (other than Ferrari which has been mentioned multiple times)

[UncreativeUsername37]

I thought Ferrari would at least have the courtesy to win at the actual track where they were fastest earlier in the year. Not only did they not win, they bizarrely waited to swap their drivers, even when there were actual attempts at moves, removing "China made us nervous" as a decent excuse. And they didn't even lose a win with that, because there was no win in their hands to lose. With the start of the European season, they got worse. So what they did lose is our hope.

[Faustus]

Me because I fell asleep after 7 laps and woke up during the podium celebrations.

[Rob Dylan]

After being genuinely completely unable to actually watch the race without illegal means or paying €25 a month, I caught the highlights on YouTube. Didn't miss much. I'm going to go along with the general consensus and say everyone except Mercedes. It's like every bit of pre-season hype regarding what 2019 could have been has already completely evaporated.

I was looking forward to a closer season at the front, but we've had five Mercedes 1-2s in a row with only Leclerc breaking the complete monopoly of points at the front. I was also really looking forward to Renault finally breaking into that group, with Ricciardo making a demon move across teams. He's struggling to get into the points or even finish races this year.

Basically, everyone except Leclerc this season has depressed me. Imagine this season with Räikkönen still at Ferrari. I mean, I guess every season could still be worse. But yeah, everything appears to have been a shambles, and as it's so difficult these days even to bloody watch F1 on any kind of legal platform, the sport's trying its best to push me away.

[WeirdKerr]

Me because I fell asleep after 7 laps and woke up during the podium celebrations.

well to be fair you didn't miss much....

I just wish the start time would go back to 1 (BST) and not 2:10 takes up too much of a sunday afternoon

the race its self is my nomination dull dull dull TBH im seriously considering not watching any more

[dr-baker]

I just wish the start time would go back to 1 (BST) and not 2:10 takes up too much of a sunday afternoon
:

2 pm, or 2:10 pm or whatever, suits me better, because of church. As soon as the service finishes, and you've chatted to a few people, then grabbed a bit of lunch (either at home or elsewhere), it can easily be 1:30-1:45, just in time to see Martin Brundle's grid walk...

[Vassago]

If this is the final F1 race at Catalunya for a while (maybe ever), the entire track deserves ROTR here. Talk about going out with a whimper, a true homage to one of the most boring venues in the modern era. Both Magny Cours & Catalunya never lived up to any expectations as "next gen" tracks preached around their 1991 F1 introduction.

[Alextrax52]

I say we give it to everyone bar Mercedes too. Or should we save that until Abu Dhabi? After all Japan 2002’s ROTR was the whole field bar Ferrari.

East Londoner is absolutely right about the apathy part. There was someone at Autosport who asked whether Formula E is too random as if we should be happy with the same names being at the top all the time like in F1. The only reason I still pay for Sky on Now TV is to keep F2, F3, Indycar and the football.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

There was someone at Autosport who asked whether Formula E is too random as if we should be happy with the same names being at the top all the time like in F1.

Not the implication there at all; there is a middle ground between monolithic dominance and what they are arguing is a lottery.

[mario]

After being genuinely completely unable to actually watch the race without illegal means or paying €25 a month, I caught the highlights on YouTube. Didn't miss much. I'm going to go along with the general consensus and say everyone except Mercedes. It's like every bit of pre-season hype regarding what 2019 could have been has already completely evaporated.

I was looking forward to a closer season at the front, but we've had five Mercedes 1-2s in a row with only Leclerc breaking the complete monopoly of points at the front. I was also really looking forward to Renault finally breaking into that group, with Ricciardo making a demon move across teams. He's struggling to get into the points or even finish races this year.

Basically, everyone except Leclerc this season has depressed me. Imagine this season with Räikkönen still at Ferrari. I mean, I guess every season could still be worse. But yeah, everything appears to have been a shambles, and as it's so difficult these days even to bloody watch F1 on any kind of legal platform, the sport's trying its best to push me away.

It is one of those times when you feel frustrated at the fact that Ferrari have had times when they could have at least posed more of a threat to Mercedes, or even taken victory in their own right, but proceeded to gift those victories to Mercedes (such as Leclerc's breakdown in Bahrain).

In Spain, there was also that sluggish response to what was happening on track that seems to be so characteristic of Ferrari this year. The delay in letting Leclerc past during that first stint just gifted a lead to Verstappen, and then the fact that they then let Vettel get stuck behind Leclerc when they would have known that, if Vettel was on a two stop strategy to attack Verstappen, losing time behind Leclerc was just helping Verstappen out.

Even if the car wasn't fast enough to challenge Mercedes, they still managed to contrive a situation where they couldn't even maximise their own performance - it's that sense that they're not even making it that hard for Mercedes that seems to be making that apathy even worse.

There was someone at Autosport who asked whether Formula E is too random as if we should be happy with the same names being at the top all the time like in F1.

Not the implication there at all; there is a middle ground between monolithic dominance and what they are arguing is a lottery.

True, there is perhaps a feeling that success in Formula E is a bit too random - it's not so much the fact that there have been so many different winners, but rather that there has been such extreme variation in performance. With the exception of di Grassi, in every other case those drivers went from winning to having a pretty catastrophic race afterwards - and, in general, the variation in results makes it feel almost as if driver skill has become a secondary factor to sheer chance.

[FullMetalJack]

Me because I fell asleep after 7 laps and woke up during the podium celebrations.

You got a siesta, i'm quite jealous.

[Rob Dylan]

There were a lot of grumpy folks after Sunday last week, which means lots of candidates for Reject of the Race! I narrowed it down to the best four I could think of, and combined one or two. You have 48 hours to get your votes in!

[Rob Dylan]

So, as the fanbase get apathetic, we start towards the unique and the stranger of the Reject awards. In Spain, after Mercedes completely dominated for the fifth time in a row, we decided to vote for literally everyone but Mercedes! Everyone seems to be messing up, and letting Mercedes get away with yet another win-fest for perhaps the sixth year in a row. Exciting stuff! Basically everyone outside of Mercedes really needs to up their game and improve in some serious way. Punishment exercise that I expect by Monaco.