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Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 14:46
by Miguel98
Post your nominations for Reject of the Race here!

:badoer:

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 14:49
by Enforcer
Mercedes. I have a little bit of sympathy for Merc on Lewis' strategy. Yes, obviously it was the wrong call in retrospect, but Monaco turns into a stand off where the first person to blink is screwed. Problem is, at some point someone has to blink. At least they tried something, even thought it backfired, to get ahead of Gasly rather than hoping that he'd pit before they needed to.

But Bottas' wheel nut fail would do it by itself. Can't think of a time when a wheel couldn't be taken off. At all.

Camera direction. The closest thing to wheel to wheel action was when Vettel emerged ahead of Gasly and they cut away from it. And then followed this up by putting up Vettel's name on screen when looking at Norris a few laps later.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 14:49
by Spooder918
Bottas's wheel nut: Seriously, a wheel nut stuck causing retirement?
Charles Leclerc: Crashing after pole and not even starting the race

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 14:52
by You-Gee-Eee-Day
Merc will take it so I'm gonna throw some alternates:

1. Ricciardo
2. The cameras for cutting to Lewis for no reason yet again

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 14:54
by IceG
(i) Danny Ric for driving like Bottas on a bad day
(ii) Hamilton for driving like Vettel on a bad day

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 14:58
by RAK
1) Mercedes-Benz: Slow pace from Hamilton for once, who didn't look comfortable in the car, while Bottas was cruelly denied a strong result with the wheel nut trouble.

2) Daniel Ricciardo: Looked off the pace all weekend and while his teammate took a deserved podium, Ricciardo was trundling around below the points places.

(Facetious) Dishonourable Mention: Max Verstappen, for making us think there might actually be a title race this year. :P

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 15:10
by Francophone
Mercedes Strategists.

I'm struggling to understand what they were trying to accomplish trying to put Hamilton in first when it was clear Bottas's tyres were finished and he needed to pit very soon to avoid dropping off. There's no way Merc should have been racing Gasly for undercuts. I'd have expected them to go long with Lewis to try and help Valterri out , and get him into clear air when the rest of the pack reacted to Valt's pitstop. Pretty much what Checo did.

Just as well he pitted first and didn't get the right front wheel gun achieving the complete opposite of doing what it was , erm , designed to do :facepalm:

Tele Monte-Carlo.

You have someone overtaking at Monaco , and you decide to cut away to another car in clear air and on it's own. You had one job...

I think FOM need to step in and do the direction for this round too as TMC have shown themselves to be utterly out of their depth to produce an F1 race , which has been clear since the days of F1 Digital! (20 years) Now it's painfully clear , and I hope with Liberty trying to up the entertainment in the sport they will no have the input to fix this.

HMs : Ferrari parts inspection - "no significant damage on the gearbox" , but it seems like they didn't look at the halfshafts! Or perhaps they didn't look closely enough at that gearbox which wrecked the halfshaft... , Danny Ric - lapped by your team mate , enough said.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 15:12
by dj_vicious
1. The TV Director. Cut away from all the action including Vettel's pass up alongside Gasly. Really rejectful stiff.

2. Ricciardo. When you're described as a future World Champion and a previous winner at Monaco, it's not a good look to get knocked out of Q3 and trudge along towards the back. Norris coming home 3rd was the nail in the coffin for a ROTR nomination.

DHM: Mercedes strategy. The wheel nut should have been a slam dunk ROTR, but I can't really blame them for the failure of the nut. shite happens. They failed to make up for it by bad strategy for Hamilton. Nothing was outrageously rejectful, but a far cry from what we'd expect out of Mercedes. It seems they are so used to winning that when things go wrong, they just crumble.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 15:25
by Meatwad
My vote goes to Mercedes – they managed to lose the lead in both championships with a disastrous off weekend. Bottas retired through no fault of his own, Hamilton struggled all weekend, and not only did he fail to get past Gasly with the strategy, he lost two positions. Seven points is better than nothing, but still embarrassing by their standards.

Dishonorable mention to the TV broadcast. Very little happened, and most of that was missed by the cameras – what happened to Schumacher when he lost a lot of time to Mazepin? F2 was even worse, there were some overtakes in the lower positions, but they weren't even shown in replays.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 15:36
by Klon
Since everyone is going to pile on Legreg and Merdeces and I actually didn't watch the race, I will go with a nomination outside of Formula One: Theo Edgerton, for having a major mental absence at the start of the Porsche Visit Cayman Islands Sprint Challenge race at Brands Hatch.

My second nominations go to the British and German ESC entries. Neither inoffensive pop with inane lyrics nor absurdist pro-tolerance songs were particularly appreciated.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 15:51
by rachel1990
Where do I begin
HM- His Royal Highness King Lewis Hamilton. Today was one of those days of just SHUT UP. You put YOURSELF into the position you were in thanks to Quali. The team couldn't produce a miracle for you. You couldn't pass Gasly and therefore it is all your own making. Bottas has every reason to be mightly pissed. You not so much.

HM- Danny Ric- No driver should be lapped by his teammate. That must have hurt.

HM- Ferrari and Charles Leclerc. If the following below didn't happen they would be clear-cut ROTR. But he did crash in Quali and the team prayed the gearbox wasn't damaged and they would risk it for Pole. It didn't work. However, they still managed to get Sainz second so that's good I suppose.

2nd- Bottas Pitstop. Why always him. Bottas looked mightly pissed off and I don't blame him. He was just about keeping up with Max and the undercut might have worked. But no. Mercedes pitstop fail again. Especially when Bottas has the Beating of HRH.

1st- TV Direction. WTF was going on. In a race devoid of action we saw even less due to the director picking the exact wrong times to cut away from the main action. Nobody saw Vettel overtake Gasly because just before it cut to random images of Lance Stroll. Eh? Awful. Just Awful.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 16:58
by Aislabie
1. Bottas' front right - absolutely glorious moment

2. Charles Leclerc - hoping for a ROTR/IIDOTR combo by smashing up his gearbox and not taking the start

DHM. TV direction - total trash but we expect it at Monaco

DHM. F1 cars are too big

DHM. Serena Williams - all that upper body strength but a very weak flag wave

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 17:15
by Ciaran
EDIT because of this: https://www.racefans.net/2021/05/23/dri ... h-binotto/
  1. Ferrari. OK, if Leclerc's driveshaft was actually checked for damage, it'd probably need replacing and incur a penalty. Maybe he'd get the jump on Gasly with some heroics into Sainte-Devote, but if not he'd still be on for 10 points after Bottas's luck struck again. Binotto, IT'S TIME TO GO!
  2. Speaking of Hamilton, he gets my #2 vote. Only a botched pitstop for Bottas and a botched inspection for Leclerc have spared him the ignominy of bringing home a Mercedes in 9th place.

Dishonourable mention to TV direction, because as a racing fan who's committed nearly 2 hours of his day to watching a race, what I really want to see is the VIP guest, or Hamilton in no-man's-land.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 18:44
by tBone
The entire Mercedes team except for Valtteri Bottas deserves it. What a mess, from dodgy setup stories in qualifying, via a wheel failing to come off, all the way to Sir Lewis "such a strong team without blame culture" Hamilton who managed to point all fingers at the team.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 19:00
by CaptainGetz12
1) TV Directors. Seriously, a noteworthy pass for Vettel and you cut away twice so we can't see it? Insult to injury to cut to his teammate hitting the wall.

2) Bottas's right(front) nut. Bad luck strikes again for him.

(Dis)honourable Mentions:
Ferrari's call to have Leclerc start (Should have checked the car again after the crash)
Daniel Ricciardo (Pretty sluggish, not who I expected from the "old guard" to be off the pace)
Kimi's drink system (Always seems to happen to him)

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 19:09
by Bleu
1. Bottas's wheel nut. It is understandable to sometimes see a stuck wheel nut to cause slight delay during the pit stop, but that kind of problem putting driver out of the race is something I haven't heard much happening.

2. Ricciardo. Lapped by a team-mate who gets a podium.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 19:54
by Spectoremg
1. Hamilton's petulance - ' I'm 7th cos of you lot'. Still the spoiled brat.
2. Anyone who thinks this ray of sunshine is going to affect Hamilton's 8th championship.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 20:00
by SammiRei
A lot of options here.
Worse of the bunch goes to The Race Director: I've been complaining for years that it's impossible to overtake here in F1 and that Monaco (along with Singapore) should be dropped from the calendar to make way for a track where some actual racing might happen, and the one moment that might prove me wrong (Gasly vs Vettel up the hill through Beau Rivage) you cut away to Stroll clipping a wall and bouncing over a curb?
Runner up goes to Mercedes: Bottas really did nothing wrong here, but that wheel nut issue ended his race and Lewis's strategy was just poor. Add in the inevitable whining when something goes wrong and it's yet another case of Hamilton being a great driver with a lousy attitude.

DHM's aplenty:
Daniel Riccardo - Being lapped by Norris is the moment where I think I finally have to accept that as much as i like him, he's never going to be a world champion.
Haas - Over a lap down on every other car in the field. Again. Bonus points to Schumacher for crashing so hard in FP3 he couldn't even take part in qualifying.
Charles Leclerc - Not even taking the start was entirely your own fault for crashing in Q3, I'm afraid.
Fernando Alonso - Being made to look absolutely anonymous by your teammate is not becoming of a double world champion, but here we are. I can see this ending up like Michael Schumacher's time coming back from retirement, mostly disappointing.
F1 at Monaco - As per the above I've been saying for years that this track should be dropped entirely (I'm well aware that the legacy/prestige of this race means it'll never happen), and never has it been more obvious than when you can compare it directly with the Formula E race over the exact same track just 2 weekends ago.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 23 May 2021, 20:46
by eagleash
Ricciardo; career looking a bit sorry these days; trudging around with the also-rans; the shot of him moving over for Norris was really quite sad...

Merc. pit work obv.

Dishonourable mention for Whaamilton per Rachel above:

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 24 May 2021, 00:31
by UncreativeUsername37
Leclerc and Ferrari thought they had the master plan, but then Mercedes were like "no, we wanna be ROTR!". Look, Ferrari made a gamble and it didn't pay off. Fine. That pit stop (or attempt at one) was so bizarre. That's what ROTR should be about.
Ricciardo was lapped by his teammate which is of course awful, he'll be my second nomination. Not as unique as what happened at Mercedes, but he shouldn't get away with this.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 24 May 2021, 08:18
by Batty
I wanna vote Mercedes - Not because of strategy but because of the wheel nut getting like stuck or something. Whatever it was, poor Val and it was hilarious. Which means Wheel Nut on Bottas guy. The first time like he actually was better in a weekend than Lewis this season and it goes against him.

S/O for Ferrari (except Sainz) with the whole Charles Leclerc thing. Hilarious. Also Daniel. Dude should have stayed at Future Alpine.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 24 May 2021, 08:58
by Alextrax52
Plenty of choices

TV Directors: Monaco is the one race to still use the local directors instead of FOM coverage and it really shows. I’m sure Aston Martin really appreciated you cutting away from one of their drivers making an on track pass for a decent position to showing a replay of their other car banging the wall. Then when we get the replay we cut away again to show Perez’s stop. Just awful.

Daniel Ricciardo: Up to now I’ve felt some of the criticism that’s come his way has been a little harsh. His results haven’t been bad, it’s just Norris has been absolutely sensational. Plus he’s still learning the car because of the shortest pre-season testing ever. No excuses for this weekend though. On a track where’s he dazzled in the past he was out in Q2, he was the highest starting driver to lose position at the start (11th) and he trundled home 12th while his team-mate inherited a podium. Getting lapped by Norris on lap 52 seals the deal.

Charles Leclerc/Ferrari: Charles’s mistake was the kickstart to this mess so he can’t escape some blame. Ferrari took the risk (possibly to keep the Monegasque winning in Monaco dream alive) and it backfired spectacularly.

Anyone at Mercedes not called Valterri Bottas: The strategy for Hamilton that worked so well in Spain backfired here. Do I even need to add anymore about Bottas’s issue. I haven’t seen wheel nuts wreck a race like that since Force India in Malaysia 2013. And this on a weekend that saw him have Hamilton’s number for once. Lewis then basically gave up once he lost those places and the moaning started. No Lewis the team wasn’t wholly responsible for your poor result, you not turning up in qualifying had just as much to do with it. As others have mentioned he could have genuinely finished 9th.

Haas: I know these are going for ROTY but I just can’t ignore the fact they finished 2 laps down on 16th. Their screen time was basically moving aside for everyone else. Speaking of 16th....

Yuki Tsunoda: What has happened to this guy since Bahrain? His team-mate performed brilliantly while he was out in Q1. He had the same strategy as Stroll and yet only finished ahead of the Russian/American mobile chicanes and behind the Stagecoach bus lookalikes. Sort it out Yuki.

These current cars: The usual moaning about Monaco as a race is understandable but I don’t think it’s being helped by these 2017-present cars. Their so wide that no one can even try an improbable lunge anymore.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 24 May 2021, 10:08
by Miguel98
1. TV Direction - Please, FOM, stop giving control of the Monaco broadcast to the locals. That was atrocious how they robbed us of the Vettel overtake. Plus, they did so many naming mistakes :facepalm:

2. Mercedes except Bottas - Poor Valtteri, his luck has been atrocious. He did nothing wrong and drove around the cars imminent problems and would have easily scored a podium here if not for that... thing in the pitstop. His wheel is still stuck in the car! And yeah, Hamilton's strategy was terrible, but you know: drive faster. He had a terrible weekend, couldn't drive around the car problems. And his reaction reminded me why I find it so hard to like him inside a racecar. Silence to your team in the end? Jesus. :facepalm:

Honorable mentions:

Daniel Ricciardo - After his best weekend thus far, his worst weekend so far. His not up to grips in the McLaren yet, and even though mid-race his pace went up (to the point he was faster than Norris at one points), it was all for nothing, as its impossible to overtake here.

Ferrari but Sainz - Yeah, you should have checked the driveshaft. Charles' fault for crashing and even being in the situation, but not checking the driveshaft state is pure comedy that not even an F3 team would make.

Serena Williams - Learn to wave the flag.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 24 May 2021, 10:12
by Hermann95
Mercedes(except Bottas): bad pace for Hamilton, bad strategy for Hamilton and poor Valtteri having to retire because of a stuck wheel nut.

Leclerc/Ferrari: throwing away the pole(and probably a win) by crashing out and failing to properly inspect the car afterwards

DHM:
TV directione, for not showing the only proper racing scene of the race
Daniel Ricciardo, not comfortable with the car and getting lapped by the teammate who scores a podium.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 24 May 2021, 10:53
by dinizintheoven
Y'know what? For all the arguments about what it could and should have been, I'm going to go with the wheel nut incident. I've been watching F1 for 31 years, longer than some of you have been alive, and in all that time I don't remember seeing that ever happen before. Maybe my memory is fading, maybe all the identikit 2000s races are all merging into one indistinct blur, but if it has happened before, I'd like to know about it.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 24 May 2021, 15:26
by Aerond
1. Leclerc

2. Ricciardo

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 24 May 2021, 16:32
by James1978
Didn't a similar wheel nut incident happen with Force India once? (Can't remember the race but they had Sutil and Di Resta driving for them).

Anyway I vote for Hamilton. Seeing him get overcut twice was quite funny :)

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 24 May 2021, 17:50
by Wallio
Honestly, there can be only one:

David Bathplugging Coultard: We have a new leader in the WDC and the WCC! First time in legitimately years! And we have the winner and new championship leader right here! Do I interview him! AW HELL NO! Let's bring in a tennis player to give Max advice! Then I just fanboy all over her! This isn't awkward at all!

I know DC is a well known skirt chaser but Jesus Christ man. Act like you've been here before. That was legit embarrassing.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 24 May 2021, 18:52
by pi314159
There are plenty of candidates this time.

Charles Leclerc's side of the Ferrari garage, including Leclerc himself, is definitely a contender. Leclerc crashed the car, his mechanics failed to make sure it was in a running condition for the race, losing them a certain podium and a possible win.

Lewis Hamilton had one of his weakest performances of his Mercedes years. Bottas handily beat him all weekend long. The reigning champion lacked pace all weekend long, and a failed strategy gamble dropped him further down to seventh.

The same goes for Daniel Ricciardo. Lapped by his teammate. Do I need to say any more? Yes, because Monaco wasn't an uncharacteristic off day for him. Barcelona aside, he hasn't looked strong compared to Lando Norris so far this season.

Likewise, Yuki Tsunoda had another weekend to forget. Despite an impressive debut, his recent form has been disappointing. The last Formula 2 season has shown Yuki's talent, but he needs more time to adapt to Formula 1 and we can only hope Helmut Marko will give it to him.

Finally, the Circuit de Monaco delivered one of the most processional races in Formula 1's history. I'm not one of the people who measures the quality of a race by the number of overtakes, but Monaco had not a single overtake after lap 1 and that shows something is wrong. Overtaking in Monaco has always been tough and that is fine, but when the drivers aren't even trying any longer, as we saw yesterday, it becomes a farce. We can only hope that next year's new technical regulations bring back the spectacle that Monaco was in the pre-2017 cars.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 24 May 2021, 21:44
by Pacific Edge
A few.. Nah, a LOT here:

Bottas' wheel nut The wheel is still on the car!
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... m4A7X.html

TV director we get a moment, ONE BRIEF MOMENT of exciting track action... And he cuts away to show Stroll doing.... something...

The race as a whole Now a couple sub awards here:
The Sky commentators For telling us how special and wonderful Monaco is, and how much they missed it.
Us For actually sitting through that, hoping (more like wishing) for interesting on track action.
But most of all...
FIA/FOM For constantly going there, for reasons other than providing good racing

Hamilton For being a sulky ponce when he's not winning,

Leclerc Went to the well once too often, and fell in.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 25 May 2021, 02:37
by Vassago
1. Ferrari - It was a Charles LeClerc driver error and maybe Monaco is the one place where any team gambles with a pole position over a five-place grid drop but they really should have checked the car and avoided that DNS facepalm. That was just stupid.

2. Daniel Ricciardo - lapped by a teammate. It always looks bad especially after last race was supposed to turn the tide. Guess it didn't?

3. Mercedes - Even the best have an off-day. Merc has dominated for so long such lacklustre showings come as a shock. Even the pit strategy didn't work. For the first time in ages Hamilton sounded really angry on the radio, not just the usual bitching.

Honorable Mention: TV direction - Cutting away from Vettel/Gasly to show Stroll bouncing over the kerbs was bad but it only deserves a HM.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 25 May 2021, 09:25
by Rob Dylan
Hot take incoming:

The Rookies - yes I am aware of context, yes I am aware of Haas, yes I am aware that we have bashed two out of the three rookies already this year. BUT, I will continue. For the majority of the race, and throughout the entirety of the first stint, the bottom three in this race were the three rookies. With the exception of a late pitstop and a fastest lap, none of the three used Monaco to make any kind of impression on the F1 world the way so many talented youngsters have done in the past. Forgive me for saying this, and I'll be happy to be completely wrong, but I don't predict any of this season's current crop will go anywhere.

Lap 29 for Mercedes: they went from 2nd and 6th to Retired and 8th in one pitstop strategy. For once they were the team that was caught out and beaten through strategy, whilst Pérez overhauled the lot of them. It was really lovely Schadenfreude to see Vettel and Ocon ahead of Hamilton on merit, and the knowledge that without Leclerc or Bottas' retirement, Hamilton would have finished the race 9th...

I will also agree with Charles Leclerc's side of the Ferrari garage: Leclerc's crash robbed Ferrari of their only decent chance at a win, or even a double podium. Then again, Ferrari assured him he could race on Sunday regardless. Everyone on that side of the garage needs to get their heads in order, what a disaster.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 25 May 2021, 09:49
by RAK
Rob Dylan wrote:Forgive me for saying this, and I'll be happy to be completely wrong, but I don't predict any of this season's current crop will go anywhere.


I've had the opinion that Formula Two has been running on a depleted field of talent since the end of 2018 for a while; I think Guanyu Zhou, a driver I otherwise don't rate highly, being at the top of the standings this year just illustrates that point even further.

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 26 May 2021, 13:43
by Pacific Edge
Latifi for forgetting to connect his drinks tube.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... rP0jA.html

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 26 May 2021, 16:29
by Rob Dylan
The poll is up! Tell us who you think was the Reject of the Race at Monaco and in 48 hours you'll know :chilton:

Get voting, the poll is at the top of this thread :dance:

Re: Reject of the Race - Monaco 2021

Posted: 31 May 2021, 18:52
by Rob Dylan
The results are in! Read our race report here :dance: