Your Reject of the Race - Singapore

[Londoner]

1. Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel - These two clowns basically gifted Hamilton the race and almost certainly the title by the first corner. Thanks a bunch.

2. Felipe Massa - it's time to call it a day, mate.

Honourable mention to Sauber. There was merit in going for the tortoise strategy given the attrition today, but you still need to, you know, actually be fast enough to take advantage...

[Normal32]

1. Sauber
2. Sebastian Vettel

[golic_2004]

1. Ferrari: I don't care whose fault it was. That is the first time both Ferraris retire on the first lap in F1 history.
2. Hulkenberg's luck: None

[Enforcer]

1st The Start - I had to think about how to nominate an RotR related to the start line incident, or even if to nominate one, because it was imo just a racing incident. No one did anything ludicrously stupid, it was just an unexpectedly good start from Raikkonen plus a slightly marginal move from Vettel that contributed to smashing both Ferraris, Verstappen and Alonso out. But whilst it was no ones fault, it ultimately made for a considerably less interesting race and likely a less interesting Championship run in. And this'll be held up if anyone suggests a standing start in the wet ever again. So I have opted to nominate the start itself.

2nd Williams - They didn't crash and they made the right tire choices, but they were still slow enough to only pull three points out of this race. Sainz was 4th for Torro Rosso. Palmer was 6th. Those are points Williams should've been looking at today, but their 2nd half of the season is turning into a disaster, they've fallen off a complete cliff in terms of pace.

[WeirdKerr]

1 Verstappen for trying to squeeze between the 2 Ferraris
2 Charlie Whiting, it should of been an SC start

HM Hulkenberg's Renault for not behaving its self and giving him the unwanted record...

[Rob Dylan]

1. Sebastian Vettel - far too aggressive in the wet. Should have thought about the championship before trying to shove two seconds into the race.
2. Max Verstappen's luck - honestly, poor guy.

HMs:
- Nico Hulkenberg's luck - admittedly it would have been fourth rather than a podium, but the guy has deserved more than his results in my opinion.
- Ferrari's tweet - stating that Max Verstappen, the only driver I would call innocent of the three participants, was responsible is just needless pot-stirring.

[Meatwad]

1. Sebastian Vettel: Ruining the race for both yourself and your team mate on the first lap is always embarrassing. However, today was the worst possible time to do this. Ferrari was supposed to win this easily, with Vettel taking a nice lead over Hamilton. Three drivers that would probably have finished ahead of his title rival retired (a 38-point swing in favor of Hamilton!), and in a cruel twist of fate, it was Hamilton who won what was supposed to be a difficult race for him. I wouldn't be surprised if this is what ends up costing Vettel the championship.
2. Nico Hülkenberg's car: Fourth place would have been a brilliant result for Hülkenberg and Renault, but the car broke down. At least Palmer got some points for the team so it wasn't a total disaster for them.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1st The Start - I had to think about how to nominate an RotR related to the start line incident, or even if to nominate one, because it was imo just a racing incident. No one did anything ludicrously stupid, it was just an unexpectedly good start from Raikkonen plus a slightly marginal move from Vettel that contributed to smashing both Ferraris, Verstappen and Alonso out. But whilst it was no ones fault, it ultimately made for a considerably less interesting race and likely a less interesting Championship run in. And this'll be held up if anyone suggests a standing start in the wet ever again. So I have opted to nominate the start itself.

Agreed 100% on the reasoning for nominating the start. It was really a variety of small factors combining to create one massive accident.

My second nomination goes to... Ericsson, I suppose. Everyone was simultaneously capitalising and losing out, it's kind of hard to look anywhere for a second nomination.

[Aislabie]

(10) Sebastian Vettel - Like, it's hard to apportion blame but I'm going to go for it anyway. He dived across in front of two other cars at the start there. Had he not done so, the worst he would have finished would have been P2, with Hamilton presumably P4. Essentially, he cost himself a minimum of 31 points in the Championship battle there.

Luck - Fernando Alonso gets a McLaren into P2, only to be obliterated by two cars with a combined total of six wheels. Nico Hulkenberg gets into a podium position only to be jeopardised by his team pitting a lap too late, then loses his P4 because reasons. Verstappen gets a good start, does nothing stupid, and gets pincered between two World Champions.

EDIT: (6) Daniil Kvyat - He now sits nineteenth in the World Drivers Championship. His teammate is ninth. The only driver below him to have driven a full season is Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber. Today, he crashed into the wall of his own volition. If he holds onto his seat next year, he's exceptionally lucky.

[James1978]

1. Ferrari - both for Vettel and their tweet blaming Verstappen. Fools.

2. Ericsson - crashing there was just pure reject gold.

[CarloSpace]

I won't be nominating the start because I think it was just an unfortunate racing incident.

1 - Ericsson - Crashing all by yourself and managing to bring out a safety car.

2 - Bottas - Unable to do anything all weekend and would not have been anywhere close to podium without other teams' errors (Ferrari, Verstappen and Renault for not pitting Hülkenberg right away under Kvjat' safety car)

[mario]

1st The Start - I had to think about how to nominate an RotR related to the start line incident, or even if to nominate one, because it was imo just a racing incident. No one did anything ludicrously stupid, it was just an unexpectedly good start from Raikkonen plus a slightly marginal move from Vettel that contributed to smashing both Ferraris, Verstappen and Alonso out. But whilst it was no ones fault, it ultimately made for a considerably less interesting race and likely a less interesting Championship run in. And this'll be held up if anyone suggests a standing start in the wet ever again. So I have opted to nominate the start itself.

Ferrari might have been swiftly responding to the incident by blaming Max on their Twitter feed, but I do agree that it felt more like a racing incident. Out of the three, I would say that Vettel could perhaps take a bit more of the criticism for perhaps a slightly overly aggressive defence, but given that it is unlikely he would have seen Kimi on the inside of Max, he probably wouldn't have realised that he couldn't move further across.

However, as Meatwad rightly notes, the result of that crash for Vettel is such that I would nominate him for ROTR. Going into this race, he had an extremely good chance of winning at a circuit where Mercedes were expected to struggle and, even if Hamilton had looked more competitive in race trim, the struggles he had in qualifying meant that there was a good chance that Vettel could put multiple cars between himself and Hamilton to take a double digit lead in the WDC again.

Instead, that crash not only took himself out of the race, it also took two of the three drivers (Kimi and Verstappen) who could have possibly taken points off Hamilton, whilst at the same time Hamilton took advantage of that confusion to slip past Ricciardo.

Instead of damage limitation, Hamilton managed to slip through to take victory and now has a large lead in the WDC when he was expecting to have to try to make up points - we don't know what might happen in the next six races, but as many others have noted, this could well cost Vettel the title this year.

As for 2nd place, I'd be tempted to go for Kvyat and the rather embarrassing way that his race ended in the barriers - he had been starting to claw his way up the field, but that error was rather expensive given that Sainz managed to secure Toro Rosso's best finish ever at that circuit.

I would say that there are quite a few dishonourable mentions though - Renault had a real opportunity to score big with both drivers, but partially lost out through poor strategy under the safety car (they should have stopped earlier to avoid losing as much as they did), then Hulkenberg's car broke down during the race.

Furthermore, what on earth was going on with the transponder on Palmer's car? It was repeatedly dropping out throughout the race (and it's been consistently malfunctioning during the whole race weekend), and at the end of the race some weren't even sure what position he'd been in when he crossed the line - a somewhat crucial function for the transponder. It's not the first time this season either - are they just giving Palmer all the duff bits of kit now he's being kicked out the team?

[FullMetalJack]

1. Ferrari - For causing that crash
2. Ferrari - For blaming Verstappen

[lance_rambert]

1. Sebastian Vettel - Oh. Boy. That was definitely not one of the things Seb needed to do to win the Driver's Championship. Add on that the fact that he is the one that instigated that junkyard of a start. Had Seb not chopped Verstappen off, maybe that wreck would not have happened. Max or Kimi would have likely screwed themselves over some other way going into T1, but at least they wouldn't have crashed... yet.

That's not even the biggest kicker for me. All I'm going to ask is: did Fernando Alonso really deserve to get royally f__ked over like that?

2. Nico Hulkenberg's Car - I have nothing to say.

[Enforcer]

Furthermore, what on earth was going on with the transponder on Palmer's car? It was repeatedly dropping out throughout the race (and it's been consistently malfunctioning during the whole race weekend), and at the end of the race some weren't even sure what position he'd been in when he crossed the line - a somewhat crucial function for the transponder. It's not the first time this season either - are they just giving Palmer all the duff bits of kit now he's being kicked out the team?

I think it's the third race in a row (or at least three out of the last four) that Palmer's transponder's been problematic. I'm surprised the FIA haven't gotten onto Renault about it. Unless of course the FIA supply the transponders and it's their faulty part...

[Fetzie]

1. Ferrari for this tweet:

2. Ferrari for their follow-up tweet:

[Enforcer]

Except they forgot to mention the bit where Verstappen went into Kimi because Vettel was squeezing him over

Twitter is a bad idea.

[Miguel98]

1. Sebastien Vettel - Yes, he probably didn't know Raikkonen was there. But the move was still over-agressive, and it might have cost him the championship.
2. Sauber - I tried to understand their strategy. I failed. No pace, no strategy. Not even agressive one. Just bathplug' awful.

[tommykl]

1. Sebastian Vettel - I don't think the move was malicious or even particularly unusual, but it was the last move in a series that resulted in a stupid accident. He's now 28 points behind Hamilton when he could have been as much as 14 points ahead.

2. Nico Hülkenberg's car - While his strategy may have cost him a potential podium, he was on for a brilliant fourth place.

[novitopoli]

1. The two guys at the restaurant who desperately wanted to watch Bundesliga highlights, thus making me miss the start. 'Nuff said.
2. Italian and German media - If I wanted a fanboy attitude instead of serious and unbiased journalism, I would stick to British media.

As for Sauber, I think it is clear to everyone that they aren't even trying. Not that I despise them for that - it's understandable.

[Spectoremg]

1st The Start - I had to think about how to nominate an RotR related to the start line incident, or even if to nominate one, because it was imo just a racing incident. No one did anything ludicrously stupid, it was just an unexpectedly good start from Raikkonen plus a slightly marginal move from Vettel that contributed to smashing both Ferraris, Verstappen and Alonso out. But whilst it was no ones fault, it ultimately made for a considerably less interesting race and likely a less interesting Championship run in. And this'll be held up if anyone suggests a standing start in the wet ever again. So I have opted to nominate the start itself.

2nd Williams - They didn't crash and they made the right tire choices, but they were still slow enough to only pull three points out of this race. Sainz was 4th for Torro Rosso. Palmer was 6th. Those are points Williams should've been looking at today, but their 2nd half of the season is turning into a disaster, they've fallen off a complete cliff in terms of pace.

This.
1. for turning what might have been an interesting event into a procession.
2. what a sorry excuse for a racing team Williams have become.

[This Could Be You]

1. Ferrari Drivers: Turned an opportunity for what was probably going to be at least a 1-4 for them (and a far more interesting race) into a non-score and a Mercedes benefit.
2. Williams: Last bar the Saubers on pace again, if it wasn't for Haas' bad luck and Stroll's wet weather pace.
DHM:
Massa: Banged wheels with Ocon, Magnussen (twice) and Vandoorne, the latter under the safety car, and after hitting several drivers in Italy you have to wonder if he's regressing to his 2002 crash-prone form...
The Race: Surprisingly boring, considering
Hulkenburg's luck: He was on course for a podium in the very last race before he breaks the record for most races without a podium, and then his car fails. That's Badoer-rivalling cruelty!
Sauber: I know they're off the pace, but their strategy just made no sense whatsoever today- they left Wehrlein out on wet tyres until it was nearly dry enough for slicks and then put Inters on, losing any oppurtunity to either keep up with the Williams or undercut the field. With better tactics, they very well could have scored today

[Samster]

This Race - One of those races. Where every event seems designed to troll me specifically. The one time Mercedes are at their weakest and three of the four cars ahead take themselves out and Lewis is handed an easy win. If that wasn't enough Alonso got dicked over by it when he could have had a shot at the podium. Then Hulkenburg first loses his shot at a podium when Renaults goofs up the strategy dropping him behind Bottas. Once his car failed him costing a certain 4th, I saw no reason to continue watching with the 2nd BTCC race about to start.

Sauber - Strategy made no sense, why did Wehrlein not just go straight from Wets to Dries? He was miles behind everyone by that point, there was nothing to lose. Plus they were so slow they reminded me of mid 2000s era Minardi. Only without any of their charm.

[UncreativeUsername37]

1. Sebastian Vettel - Lost the championship (yes, calling it) in a spectacularly idiotic manner.
2. Kimi Räikkönen - Did the same thing as Vettel and didn't even have a championship to lose. Which makes it more understandable, but also more pathetic in a way.

[Alextrax52]

1: Sebastian Vettel: For forgetting that races are not won in the first 500 metres of a Grand Prix. Most of the blame has to fall at his door for me. Yes he probably didn't expect Raikkonen to come steaming up the inside of Verstappen but for a man of his championship experience he should have known better than to get involved with 2 drivers miles behind him. In the space of 10 seconds he handed the race and almost certainly the championship to Hamilton, I'll be very surprised if Lewis is not celebrating a 4th championship in Abu Dhabi

2: Ferrari: For trying to pin the blame on Verstappen who was completely blameless and then trying to justify it afterwards by saying it was factual. What an embarrassing way to try and hide the fact that your 2 World Champion drivers combined to give Mercedes both championships on a golden plate

HM's
Hulkenberg's car: As much as I was happy to see Sainz pick up a top 4 finish that 4th place deserved to go to Hulkenberg

Sauber: Slow and tactically inept. Pascal was kept out on Wet's ridiculously long and then instead of pushing the boat out for dries they stuck him on intermediates!!

Danill Kvyat: Ah I've just made a great overtake to move up into the points, What I shouldn't do now is stuff it into the barriers 2 corners later. Oh I just did. What a random crash that was. This guy is now 2nd last in the points (excluding substitutes) Let that sink in.

[Dexter249]

1. Ferrari : This surely looks like MERCEDESWINSLOL Volume 7 Next season.
2. Alonso : Standard practices.

[FullMetalJack]

This guy is now 2nd last in the points (excluding substitutes) Let that sink in.

Didn't realise that. Even Wehrlein's ahead of him in the standings. That does reflect well on Wehrlein too to be fair, given the circumstances.

[Bleu]

1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Shared between Daniil Kvyat and Marcus Ericsson

[watka]

1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Shared between Daniil Kvyat and Marcus Ericsson

+1 for this.
Was Vettel's move aggressive? Maybe, but I doubt he knew Raikkonen was up the inside of Verstappen.
Was his start poor? Yes

As for Kvyat and Ericsson, they are the bottom two drivers in the championship and days like this show us why.

[Ciaran]

1. Sebastian Vettel - between betting on him and trying to cover my ass when the heavens opened, the scrub cost me €30.
2. Sauber - the only team to leave Singapore without scoring any points.

[Rob Dylan]

Sauber - the only team to leave Singapore without scoring any points.

Psssssst, Ferrari!

[Rob Dylan]

So as we approach the Malaysian Grand Prix, the results of Singapore are in, and holy moly are there a lot of nominations!

1. Sebastian Vettel 156
2. The start / Charlie Whiting 36
3. Kimi Räikönnen 31
4. Sauber 28
- Marcus Ericsson 28
6. Ferrari's tweet 27
7. Hulkenberg's luck / car 24
8. Williams 18
- Daniil Kvyat 18
10. The two guys at the restaurant who desperately wanted to watch Bundesliga highlights, thus making Novitopoli miss the start 10
- The race 10
- Max Verstappen 10
13. Valtteri Bottas 6
- Italian and German media 6
- Fernando Alonso 6
- Max Verstappen's luck 6
- Felipe Massa 6

I divied up the points between the drivers and the team when it came to Ferrari nominations, and there were a lot of similar nominations in relation to luck and cars that I also merged together. I think the important thing is that Sebastian Vettel won by a landslide. Whether the accident was his fault or a racing incident, there's no doubting that - if Hamilton were to win the championship - people would look back at that start crash as what ended his championship hopes. For that alone he gets ROTR. The start itself was nominated highly also, whilst other poor performers such as Ericsson and Kvyat (as of this post together at the bottom of the standings) received their due share of nominations. It's good to see such a controversial incident caused a lot of opinion-throwing, and a king among the rejects was found.

EDIT: Also for a random note, this is Sebastian Vettel's second ROTR win this season. He joins Carlos Sainz Jr. and Daniil Kvyat as the holders of two ROTR awards in 2017 so far.