2017 Reject of the Year nominations

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Rob Dylan
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2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by Rob Dylan »

Haven't decided on my top three yet, but here are some people I have on my nominations list, to get the ball rolling for this year:

- Renault constructor and their engines: whilst Ferrari and Mercedes made good (or at least reliable) engines and chassis this season, Renault made a design that was slightly better than last season, but definitely not capable of the targeted 5th-place they set as their goal for 2017. They’ve improved, but certainly not by enough to warrant it a good season by the team, and the unreliability put them as the clear worst engine other than Honda this season.
- Daniil Kvyat: outscored by Sainz, outpaced all season. Rarely delivered the goods and his F1 career apparently ended in a whimper. I felt really sorry for him, but his will to do well died in Sochi last year, and it’s been a sad state of affairs ever since.
- Red Bull unreliability: both Daniel and Max would be ahead of Räikkönen in the standings, and both would be carrying their car into territory worthy of challenging Ferrari for that second place in the constructors' trophy. But they weren't. Because the car wouldn't finish. At first it was Max, and then it was Daniel. Unacceptable if the team want to win a championship.
- Lance Stroll: I probably wouldn't personally put him on the reject podium because of his actual podium in Baku. He delivered the goods every now and then, but his unpredictability in the beginning and end of the season made Massa look like a dignified professional in his final years. He had good moments, but they were the exceptions to the norm in Stroll’s debut season.
- McLaren-Honda: My God, this season. Made a car that was arguably worse than their 2015 one towards the beginning. Poor car, an unmotivated Fernando for the most part, and after the hope of 2016, this season was simply awful for them. Their only saving grace is that the team’s development is so damn good, and they managed to pick up the occasional mid-fielder points as the season went on.
- Jolyon Palmer: I really don’t have much to say about Jolyon other than he had a poor season. Other than crashing I can’t remember very much of him at all. He was an also-ran for the most part, hired because the other twenty driver choices were taken, and so was put in as a stop-gap measure until anyone with credibility took his place. Renault are all the better for having got rid of him.
- Marcus Ericsson: It’s not unexpected at all, but his pace was bad as ever. He did nothing to justify having that seat, and yet it is he who is secure for the 2018 season. That makes me sad.
- Antonio Giovinazzi: I feel sorry for this guy, because he clearly has the talent. But every time he had an opportunity to show people his pace, he crashed or disappointed. And he will be replaced by the upcoming Charles Leclerc as the top Ferrari junior in due course. He deserves a place in Formula 1, I think, but he messed up at nearly all the times he was supposed to shine.
- Jenson Button: turned up once. Disappointed and didn’t really care. Has now decided to retire from F1. But his book is pretty good.
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girry
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by girry »

"disappointed every time" is harsh on Gio considering he won the IIDOTR at Melbourne. Just Shanghai was poor.

As stated on the other thread, my ROTY Podium:
1) Daniil Kvyat
2) Sauber
3) Jolyon Palmer/Honda (joint)
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Normal32
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by Normal32 »

1) Red Bull as a whole
2) McLaren F1 Team
3) Pierre Gasly
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Aislabie
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by Aislabie »

In no particular order, I have three nominations:
  • The Haas drivers
  • Toro Rosso's HR people
  • The Pirelli Hard tyre

If I had to pick out a single ROTY, it would be the Pirelli Hard tyre.
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by Salamander »

More of a personal nomination than anything else, but for me the new aero regulations successfully killed any enjoyment I might have gotten out of this season. Even when there was a good battle on track I can't help but wonder how good it might have been under the 2009-2016 aero package.
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This Could Be You
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by This Could Be You »

RoTR:
1. Kvyat: While it may not be entirely his fault, the Russian's performances this year were quite frankly dire and not deserving of his seat, and their erratic nature suggests a complete meltdown from him as the year went on, making it all the more tragic. It was clear that Kvyat was simply not in the correct mental state to drive an F1 capably this year, and considering he has now split from the toxic Red Bull management, one must hope he can recover to his best in another series and maybe even make it back to F1 with another team someday.

2. Palmer: Another driver who proved to be utterly undeserving of his seat, Palmer made exactly no improvement from 2016 and his lack of pace was shown up even more by Hulkenberg than it was by Magnussen. Add to that a constant string of unforced errors and he was very nearly my RoTY pick, but he effectively saved himself with that sixth in Singapore, a genuinely decent drive, something Kvyat failed to manage in 2017.

3. Honda: For the third year in a row, Honda managed to drop the ball. Despite completely redesigning the entire power unit, Honda produced a unit that was still down on power, more unreliable and didn't even have the benefit of "Size Zero" packaging. Add to that the numerous delays before every upgrade step Honda promised (Spec 4 didn't even appear in 2017, when it was promised for Japan), combined with their continued, ultimately misguided asserting that each would be a great leap forward to the front of the grid, and it's easy to see why Mclaren eventually lost patience. Unfortunately for them, unless they finally figure out this engine formula, they will find that Toro Rosso are even less forgiving (just ask Kvyat...)
Last edited by This Could Be You on 27 Nov 2017, 21:37, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by golic_2004 »

1. Kvyat
2. Palmer
3. Honda
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Dexter249
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by Dexter249 »

Top 3
Jolyon Palmer - It's, so so obvious why.
Renault - Fairly obvious
McHonda - God Awful, no VTEC = not a good engine.
Edit :
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SuzukiSwift
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by SuzukiSwift »

1-3.) Honda.


I don't understand why Gasly has been nominated for reject of the year. The man has had 4 races in the car.
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Aislabie
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by Aislabie »

SuzukiSwift wrote:I don't understand why Gasly has been nominated for reject of the year. The man has had 4 races in the car.

I still don't understand how I'm the only one here who's even considered nominating the Pirelli Hard Tyre. Seriously guys, y'all are slipping.
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by WaffleCat »

I have two equal nominations, no 1's or 2's...

Jolyon Palmer -- Palmer and Daniil Kvyat were the two drivers that were fired from their seats through the season. I'll give Kvyat a pass as he was no way in the right mental state, and even some of the collisions he was involved in weren't 100% his fault. Palmer though...oh my god. Talk about a seat filler. Barring Spa qualifying, Jolyon was in no way fast at all. In the part of the season where Renault were actually collecting points, it was Hulkenberg doing literally all of the work. Palmer, in the meantime, was often battling with the Haases and the Saubers for the last few spots of the grid. Not surprised he was gone. But still, we here at the site are thankful for the reject that you are.

Pirelli -- Oh give up. Ultra soft? Hyper-mega-soft next year as well? And if the hard tyres were barely touched this year, you're introducing a new, SUPER-HARD? Give me a break. Furthermore, from somewhere that I read up on Giovinazzi (IF I remember correctly), he was saying that it's different driving Formula One cars from the rest because the Pirellis couldn't handle two axes of load -- meaning it was incredibly difficult to accelerate while turning. I don't remember where I found that source, but if that was truly the case, Pirelli is solidified as one of my candidates for ROTY.
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dinizintheoven
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by dinizintheoven »

WaffleCat wrote:Pirelli -- Oh give up. Ultra soft? Hyper-mega-soft next year as well? And if the hard tyres were barely touched this year, you're introducing a new, SUPER-HARD? Give me a break.

Rumours that Fred Flintstone has been appointed as the official Pirelli test driver are still unsubstantiated.
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mario
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by mario »

WaffleCat wrote:Pirelli -- Oh give up. Ultra soft? Hyper-mega-soft next year as well? And if the hard tyres were barely touched this year, you're introducing a new, SUPER-HARD? Give me a break. Furthermore, from somewhere that I read up on Giovinazzi (IF I remember correctly), he was saying that it's different driving Formula One cars from the rest because the Pirellis couldn't handle two axes of load -- meaning it was incredibly difficult to accelerate while turning. I don't remember where I found that source, but if that was truly the case, Pirelli is solidified as one of my candidates for ROTY.

Upon closer inspection, it turns out that the "super hard" compound is not actually a new compound.

What Pirelli have done is to call the old hard compound the "super hard", and all the other compounds have then shifted up a category (so the old "medium" compound is now the "hard" compound, "softs" are now "medium" tyres and so forth). Furthermore, it looks like Pirelli probably won't actually make any "super hard" tyres at all next year - they've kept it around as a back up in case they need a more durable compound, but are not expecting to actually use it next year.

It therefore means that the only new compounds are the new "ultrasoft" and "hypersoft" tyres - though the name of the latter compound does grate with me (it sounds a bit too childish).
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Rob Dylan
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by Rob Dylan »

mario wrote:It therefore means that the only new compounds are the new "ultrasoft" and "hypersoft" tyres - though the name of the latter compound does grate with me (it sounds a bit too childish).

Verstappen used HYPERSOFT TYRES...
<It's not very effective>
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by Nuppiz »

Rob Dylan wrote:
mario wrote:It therefore means that the only new compounds are the new "ultrasoft" and "hypersoft" tyres - though the name of the latter compound does grate with me (it sounds a bit too childish).

Verstappen used HYPERSOFT TYRES...
<It's not very effective>

Unless it's actually like the early 90s Pirelli qualifiers - which literally could only last for one flying lap before melting down to a pulp - I honestly don't see the point.
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by FullMetalJack »

3. Jolyon Palmer
2. Daniil Kvyat
1. Honda
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Re: 2017 Reject of the Year nominations

Post by Dj_bereta »

Even before the season end we know Honda, Palmer and Kvyat were the strongest candidates for the ROTY podium. The former for an atrocious season start to the point of Alonso skipping one race to race in Indy 500 and both Kvyat and Palmer getting fired for poor results. So, I'm going to talk about the ones who barely missed the ROTY podium in my opinion:

Lance Stroll: His performances in Montreal, Baku and Monza saved him from a disaster season. In many races he was completely off the pace, with Spain being the worst example. Too soon for a F1 debut despite getting a podium finish.

Toro Rosso: A decent season start, a disastrous season end. Gasly and especially, Hartley, struggled a lot. It can't be helped by the fact the car didn't improve and they debuted in the middle of the season. Kvyat showed some flashes of talent but most of time he was trying to be a new crashtor. And Sainz, while scoring points, made some silly mistakes like in China (starting with dry tyres), Bahrain (crashing into Stroll) and Canada (first lap crash).

Pirelli: Too conservative in most of races.
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