Reject of the Race - Abou Diaby 2023

[Londoner]

1. 2023 Abou Diaby Grand Prix. 58 tedious laps to wrap up a season so awful it makes 2002 and 2004 look like the good old days of F1. It's exactly what Liberty Media and the FIA deserve.

2. Jorge Martin. A ridiculous choke at Valencia.

[Enforcer]

Crofty: "There's no verstoppen Verstappen!!!"

[FalconCapelli]

Abou Diaby? Really? It does remind me of Freddy Adu lol

jokes aside The entirity of FIA and Liberty Media are not only the Rejects of the race but also the season

[rachel1990]

1. The race. Summed up the season didn't it. I wonder if quite a few people turned it off when Brundle said that Charles's fight wasn't with Max. When he was second on the grid. I mean ffs.

2. Alpine drivers. Whinging over undertakes, overtakes. Not exactly Prost and Senna are they.

[Ducktanian]

Yas Marina Circuit - God this race was dull as hell. Chuck this venue in the bin. Las Vegas & Brazil would both work better as final races. No one will miss this track.

Jorge Martin - Choke of the century right here.

David Croft - THERES NO VERSTOPPEN VERSTAPPEN!! Also watching the MotoGP and listening to their commentary was absolute night and day, Croft (& Brundle) just sound so incredibly bored and have for several races now. Probably because a British driver isn't winning.

[IceG]

Yup Jorge Martin's intertake was optimistic. And ye gods Moto GP bikes have become ugly.

But if the pitcrew infringements affect the race or championship results...

[RAK]

1) Alfa Romeo: Looked promising in second practice; not so much in the race.

2) Kevin Magnussen: Pinned to the back.

[James1978]

Championship battles - stopped anyone taking risks apart from Checo who effectively had nothing to play for.

Pitlane infringements - 6 teams did it? How are they going to police that then?

Sainz's strategy - even a minor points place might have made a difference.

Hamilton - where was he? (Or did he suffer car damage? Imagine if that pass he couldn't make stick on Yuki on the last lap had decided the 2nd place).

(As a nod to 2002 under Jenoch_ maybe just say the whole field bar Max. And that includes Checo!

[mario]

Sainz's strategy - even a minor points place might have made a difference.

I am kind of surprised that this did not get more nominations, because Ferrari really lost the plot in the tail end of the race.

The idea of starting Sainz on the hard tyres was not necessarily a bad one - Stroll did the same thing, and he showed that it was possible to make up ground and get into the top 10 with a H-H-M strategy. However, the fact that Ferrari seemed to pin all their hopes on a late safety car to try and make it into the top 10 smacked of them giving up and not really trying anything.

OK, Sainz was having a shockingly bad weekend, but knowing they had to pit him again, they really should have seen that there was a point where you tried gambling on a different strategy. You could try putting medium tyres onto his car and see if he could get into the top 10, or take the risk and throw a set of soft tyres onto the car if there were a dozen or so laps to go - at least do something other than meander around hopelessly and aimlessly on track.

[James1978]

The other thing I couldn't understand was Leclerc's attempt to have Checo in between him and George . It would have been more or less impossible to do it without letting Checo take 2nd for himself after the penalty (to say finish 4.5s behind on the road but have George be 5.1 seconds). Almost like Ferrari trying to stage a dead heat at USA 2002!

[Meatwad]

The schedule: The last races of F1 and MotoGP being on at the same time is sheer idiocy, especially considering how many times attempts have been made to avoid this in the past. In the end, I decided to watch MotoGP, which was definitely the right decision.

[Alextrax52]

Yas Marina Circuit: Bar 2012 and to a lesser extent 2021 has this track ever produced a full race that was remotely memorable?

Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz: 2 drivers from the big 3 teams who were absolutely nowhere all weekend while their teammates got onto the podium. I know the only position that matters in the WDC is 1st but Sainz must be hurting a little to drop from 4th to 7th in one race.

HM: Jorge Martin: Yeah that was a choke if I ever saw one.

[Wallio]

Carlos Sainz - OK the team let him down Sunday, but he did Jack all of you know what Friday and Saturday. As a Reddit post I saw today asked: "Can we finally stop asking if he's better than Charles now?"

[Row Man Gross-Gene]

Carlos Sainz "Can we finally stop asking if he's better than Charles now?"

Were there a lot of people really wondering about this? I like Carlos, I think he's a good fit for that team and a quick and safe pair of hands. He makes one or two fewer mistakes per season than Leclerc, but in outright speed, it's not super close.

[Batty]

Sainz - Poor showing in quali and his strategy was a wtf one. His performance cost Ferrari a P2 in the WCC

[Rob Dylan]

As the season ends, the last gasp of reject voting occurs - can you find anyone worthy enough of the award from this race? Let us know in our poll! You have 48 hours to vote

[mario]

Carlos Sainz "Can we finally stop asking if he's better than Charles now?"

Were there a lot of people really wondering about this? I like Carlos, I think he's a good fit for that team and a quick and safe pair of hands. He makes one or two fewer mistakes per season than Leclerc, but in outright speed, it's not super close.

I've seen some ask a somewhat related question - not "is Sainz better than Leclerc?", but rather "does Sainz's performance suggest Leclerc may be a bit overrated?".

[Row Man Gross-Gene]

Carlos Sainz "Can we finally stop asking if he's better than Charles now?"

Were there a lot of people really wondering about this? I like Carlos, I think he's a good fit for that team and a quick and safe pair of hands. He makes one or two fewer mistakes per season than Leclerc, but in outright speed, it's not super close.

I've seen some ask a somewhat related question - not "is Sainz better than Leclerc?", but rather "does Sainz's performance suggest Leclerc may be a bit overrated?".

That's fair enough, but the answer to that could simply be that Carlos was underrated. This was not a good race for or by him. But on his two best chances to win a race, he went out and did so. That said, I think he's generally properly rated on a tier just below the top prospects.

[Wallio]

Were there a lot of people really wondering about this? I like Carlos, I think he's a good fit for that team and a quick and safe pair of hands. He makes one or two fewer mistakes per season than Leclerc, but in outright speed, it's not super close.

Yes, there were. It's partly because Spain is absolutely F1-crazy and Carlos has a large fanbase, and partly because many people view Charles is another Trulli.

I've seen some ask a somewhat related question - not "is Sainz better than Leclerc?", but rather "Does Sainz's performance suggest Leclerc may be a bit overrated?".

Now this is a fun one. I suppose it goes back to the old thought exercise of "if you were starting a team, which driver would you build around?" Of the two I'd probably take Charles, simply because then you would truly know the absolute one-lap pace you have. (Although if we truly were doing a fantasy draft, I'd take Albon)

[Row Man Gross-Gene]

many people view Charles is another Trulli.

That is absolutely hilarious, I guess there is no accounting for intelligence. If I was going to make an unflattering comparison about Charles, the worst I could say is he's not dissimilar to a modern JPM. I mean he's better than JPM, but another Trulli is worthy of ridicule. In reality he's more like a Nico Rosberg but more likeable and slightly faster.

I like the idea of drafting Albon because in a snake-type draft, you'd get another medium/high pick, so maybe you could get an Albon and Piastri or Sainz, where if you took Leclerc, you'd end up with someone like Stroll as your second pick.

[Wallio]

I like the idea of drafting Albon because in a snake-type draft, you'd get another medium/high pick, so maybe you could get an Albon and Piastri or Sainz, where if you took Leclerc, you'd end up with someone like Stroll as your second pick.

I genuinely think he'd be the best driver for a new team TBH. We have seen at Williams him take the good with the bad, and carry the team to places it really shouldn't be. Every "you have a billion dollars to start an F1 team" argument assumes the team will be competitive Day 1, when we know that's near impossible. I want someone who would be there in Year 3 still.

[Londoner]

Bad news, Abou Diaby stretchered off the pitch