Grand Prix Rejects

We've had 364 days to take in, analyse and dissect the 2018 Formula 1 season. Now it's time for the ratings countdown we've all been waiting for. No, not Autosport's Top 50 drivers, but Grand Prix Rejects' 2018 Reject of the Year.

Check out the website article to see which nominees scored the most points and which team, driver, organisation or inanimate object was voted as 2018 Reject of the Year by our panel. And discuss away below!

View the 2018 ROTY rankings here.

Nice article, I like the different perspectives regarding why each thing was placed where it was on the ROTY "leaderboard".

It pains me to see not one but two championship-winning teams struggling at the back. And both of them have outs from the sport if they really wanted to leave (Mclaren is making quite a bit off of their GT cars, and are preparing for the new formula for the WEC in 2020, while Williams have some money off of Formula E, designing parts of the cars).

I'm not sure who would replace them though, is any group interested in F1? I feel like they're all going to Formula E instead...

no surprises here. but good to hear different perspectives

I agree with the people/things nominated, however I would swap Vandoorne and Vettel around. While losing every qualification head-to-head against your team-mate who also brought in something like 75% of the team's points for the season is by all accounts a pathetically bad season, I feel this is less rejectful than:

1. Having the lead in the championship for half the season
2. Having the fastest car in the championship for most of the season
3. Having a team that enforces the team order from day 1 of the season
4. Having a support driver that is actually capable of racing the other title contenders and doing the job expected of a support driver (sorry Bottas, but you don't have that killer instinct that Kimi has)

And still managing to lose the championship with a couple of races to go due to a series of unforced errors (for example driving too fast in the wet and binning the car, hitting other cars in woefully over-enthusiastic overtakes that had at most a 10% chance of working and throwing away pole position due to Q3 errors - this was not only his fault, the team should have backed him up better in particular in Monza).

2018 was THE opportunity for Ferrari to break Mercedes' and Hamilton's run of championships. Vettel had all the advantages he could have hoped for, and still bottled it. That's why I would put him in third and not fifth.

In 2019 Vettel will have a much less compliant driver in the other seat, who is out to prove why Ferrari gave him one of the most prestigious jobs in motor racing. If Vettel continues 2019 where he left off in 2018, he will find himself becoming the highest paid support driver on the grid.

Fetzie wrote:I agree with the people/things nominated, however I would swap Vandoorne and Vettel around. While losing every qualification head-to-head against your team-mate who also brought in something like 75% of the team's points for the season is by all accounts a pathetically bad season, I feel this is less rejectful than:

1. Having the lead in the championship for half the season
2. Having the fastest car in the championship for most of the season
3. Having a team that enforces the team order from day 1 of the season
4. Having a support driver that is actually capable of racing the other title contenders and doing the job expected of a support driver (sorry Bottas, but you don't have that killer instinct that Kimi has)

And still managing to lose the championship with a couple of races to go due to a series of unforced errors (for example driving too fast in the wet and binning the car, hitting other cars in woefully over-enthusiastic overtakes that had at most a 10% chance of working and throwing away pole position due to Q3 errors - this was not only his fault, the team should have backed him up better in particular in Monza).

2018 was THE opportunity for Ferrari to break Mercedes' and Hamilton's run of championships. Vettel had all the advantages he could have hoped for, and still bottled it. That's why I would put him in third and not fifth.

In 2019 Vettel will have a much less compliant driver in the other seat, who is out to prove why Ferrari gave him one of the most prestigious jobs in motor racing. If Vettel continues 2019 where he left off in 2018, he will find himself becoming the highest paid support driver on the grid.

Here's an interesting behind-the-scenes stat for you;

Our voting cards had a fourth option - "dishonourable mention". We didn't use it for the article in the end as we had so much on the Top 5 candidates. But, if we'd given fourth place points for each dishonourable mention instead of nothing, Vettel would have been second in our list. Vandoorne would also have overtaken Williams.

Thanks for the article; great stuff.
Something very odd about having McLaren as ROTY ...but the gap between their resources and their results has to be acknowledged

If I'm not mistaken, McLaren had something of an unofficial nomination for Reject of the Year in 2015, though because 2014 and 2015 don't have any official reject of the year results decided upon. But you could honestly see this as their second win, which would put them alongside a pantheon of greats like Esteban Gutiérrez and Jenson Button!

Rob Dylan wrote:If I'm not mistaken, McLaren had something of an unofficial nomination for Reject of the Year in 2015, though because 2014 and 2015 don't have any official reject of the year results decided upon. But you could honestly see this as their second win, which would put them alongside a pantheon of greats like Esteban Gutiérrez and Jenson Button!

What years did Button win it? I presume it’s sometime during his BAR/Honda years

FortiWinks wrote:

Rob Dylan wrote:If I'm not mistaken, McLaren had something of an unofficial nomination for Reject of the Year in 2015, though because 2014 and 2015 don't have any official reject of the year results decided upon. But you could honestly see this as their second win, which would put them alongside a pantheon of greats like Esteban Gutiérrez and Jenson Button!

What years did Button win it? I presume it’s sometime during his BAR/Honda years

It was when he raced for Benetton in 2001, a real disappointment from his debut season at Williams BMW and a rather lacking end for the brand before they switched to Renault in 2002.

yannicksamlad wrote:Thanks for the article; great stuff.
Something very odd about having McLaren as ROTY ...but the gap between their resources and their results has to be acknowledged

For me, it's not just the poor showing relative to their budget and their name, but that it comes after them effectively blaming Honda for the bulk of their problems, and chucking out their works deal in favour of becoming a Renault customer.

Maybe last year's McLaren was a "top 4 chassis", but if you make a boast like that before divorcing your engine supplier, you kinda need to follow up on it next season to avoid looking a bit stupid.

Just fyi, Button won after his horrible 2001 season, and then again in 2008. Gutiérrez is much more impressive, having won it in two out of his three seasons in F1: 2013 and 2016.

You think Gutiérrez will win again, Rob? I'm skeptical.