Your Reject of the Race - Spain

[golic_2004]

I'd agree with a lot abot what happened on track, but what happened off track is definitely the reject of the race.

The fire in the Williams garage definitely ended the celebrations of Williams's win.

[jackanderton]

Schumacher- embarrassing and seems to be indecisive in the braking zone

Button- so much for the car being quick

[jackanderton]

I dont really rate Senna but he has picked up some good results. Surely he is going to continue at Williams at least for the rest of the year. Maldonado is too inconsistent to do an Alonso style curtainpull of Sennas shortcomings. Plus this season has all been about tyres race setup and pitstop strategy. It will fluctuate.

[tommykl]

Everyone who says it's Webber because he was beaten by Vettel who had to pit for a new front wing. From what I remember, it was Webber who had to change his front wing, not the Finger.

[Pamphlet]

Everyone who says it's Webber because he was beaten by Vettel who had to pit for a new front wing. From what I remember, it was Webber who had to change his front wing, not the Finger.

Both had to. Vettel also had a drive-through penalty.

[DanielPT]

I will say Schumacher. Very poor accident and mostly his fault. Yet he blamed Senna. Compound that with his rant/whinging against Pirelli and it was an unfortunate week for him...

[Aerond]

Has he ever been fast except 2008?

[tommykl]

Everyone who says it's Webber because he was beaten by Vettel who had to pit for a new front wing. From what I remember, it was Webber who had to change his front wing, not the Finger.

Both had to. Vettel also had a drive-through penalty.

Oh. I must have missed that.

[Phoenix]

First, let's deal with the honorable mentions...

McLaren - Another botched weekend in which they had the pace to score a big result. The miscalculation in Hamilton's fuel was pretty amateurish, and costly, but Button wasn't on it either. They should be leading both Championships with ease but instead they're losing to Vettel and Red Bull when they have a better shot.
HRT - Forget the upgrades, they have failed to give them any advantage. And Karthikeyan just had a shocker.
Charles Pic - For pulling off a Grouillard on Alonso, perhaps costing him a real shot at winning the race.
Felipe Massa - Yet another pathetic weekend from the Brazilian. His starts and defence are OK, but his race pace is utterly disgraceful.

And the winner is...

Bruno Senna - He had a poor weekend overall, but what really seals it for me is that, while he was knocked out in Q1, team-mate Maldonado started on pole position and won the race. Ayrton's nephew was punted out by Schumacher and retired.

[Waris]

I want to cast a shared vote for Schumacher and Senna. Also a honorable mention to Narain "I like to drive the taxi, I like it very much, even though I have no licence, I always find the clutch" Karthikeyan.

[WeirdKerr]

I would like to nominate Pastor Maldonado for spoiling my sunday afternoon nap.......

[Klon]

I nominate the BILD for rather focussing on Schumacher's penalty than Maldonado's win. If there is one good thing about the inevitable end of Western society, it's the death warrant for this "newspaper".

[Sublime_FA11C]

Easy peasy this time 'round.

The Reverend

This GP already sounds like the dullest of the season. I think i know what my ROTR nomination will be.

I nominate: myself

[DanielPT]

Easy peasy this time 'round.

The Reverend

This GP already sounds like the dullest of the season. I think i know what my ROTR nomination will be.

I nominate: myself

That is what usually happens when you nominate RoTR way too early.

[RonDenisDeletraz]

Easy peasy this time 'round.

The Reverend

This GP already sounds like the dullest of the season. I think i know what my ROTR nomination will be.

I nominate: myself

I agree.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Everyone who says it's Webber because he was beaten by Vettel who had to pit for a new front wing. From what I remember, it was Webber who had to change his front wing, not the Finger.

Both had to. Vettel also had a drive-through penalty.

Oh. I must have missed that.

Therefore, I nominate you for ROTR simply because I can

[Pedestrian]

1. Schumacher, for crashing out in a manner worthy of a rookie.

2. Button. That was painfull to watch. He looked like Massa. But at least he finished in the points.

[Yannick]

Though having not watched the race, nominees must be the Williams pit fire and "Maldonado naysayers", all those people who said he would be just a pay driver and did not understand why Williams fired Hülkenberg to give his seat to the Reverend.

[Minardi Man]

Schumacher, for driving unimpressively through the weekend again, before smashing into Senna's car like a complete spoon, and worst of all had the audacity to blame everybody but himself for his poor weekend.

[Salamander]

3. Bruno Senna - I was willing to give him a reprieve after Malaysia, but has slipped back out of my good books now. Very Massa-like performance.
2. McLaren - Oh for Christ's sake guys, do you not want to win anymore? After a nigh-flawless Australia, the only person in the team who looks even semi-competent now is Hamilton.
1. Michael Schumacher - Literally the only upside I see to him is the PR Mercedes get for having him on board. This enitre comeback is the definition of embarrassing.

[Ed24]

Winner;
-Schumacher: He's had some bad luck this year, but this weekend was his own doing. He seems to be over-driving the car to compensate. Also, the main reason is that he got a penalty for qualifying at Monaco, as I was really looking forward to seeing what he could do there.

Nominees;
-Senna: Awful qualifying and not a great race. When your car ends up in the gravel after qualifying and incinerated after the race, you know you haven't had a great weekend.
-Massa: Awful qualifying (albeit not helped by Ferrari AGAIN sending him out too early in Q2...) but race was decent before the penalty, probably would've ended up around Button/Hulkenberg/Webber.
-McLaren: Very disappointing
-Button: See McLaren
-Williams fire: Ruined the celebrations

[eytl]

And now for the official decision!

In the end, it was a bit too easy to plump for Michael Schumacher. I've gone for Bruno Senna instead, making it his second ROTR in as many Spanish GP starts.

The reasons should come as no surprise. He was poor in Q1 and wilted under the pressure of Pastor Maldonado who was clearly having a brilliant weekend. And as for his incident with Schumacher, I have to disagree with many of you and with the stewards in saying it was entirely Michael's fault. I felt Bruno had a part to play in his own demise. Yes he took the inside line to defend initially, but then he did what many drivers do in that situation - start feinting back onto the racing line. This is always laden with risk; the driver trying to pass you has to second-guess whether you are making a second move (even if it is illegal), or whether to hold their ground on the outside and risk a collision, or dive to the other side. In Michael's case, when you throw in fading reflexes, and the disparity in braking distances because of the state of Senna and Schumacher's tyres, it was a recipe was confusion and disaster. Sure, Michael made a complete balls-up of it (although in my view the grid penalty for Monaco is harsh), but in my view had Senna not feinted left again then the incident would not have occurred. That's my view at least.

[tc3j3r]

I agree, I don't like these 'second moves' into the braking zones, as they make a mockery of the "one move" rule in addition to being potentially dangerous. The way I see it, if you've moved off the racing line to cover the inside, you have to stay off it all the way to the next corner, even if that means taking a sub-optimal line on entry and having to brake earlier. Unfortunately the second move seems to have become largely accepted in F1. However, I found Schumacher's complaints rather hypocritical given that he's always been notorious for dodgy swerves...

[Phoenix]

I agree, I don't like these 'second moves' into the braking zones, as they make a mockery of the "one move" rule in addition to being potentially dangerous. The way I see it, if you've moved off the racing line to cover the inside, you have to stay off it all the way to the next corner, even if that means taking a sub-optimal line on entry and having to brake earlier. Unfortunately the second move seems to have become largely accepted in F1. However, I found Schumacher's complaints rather hypocritical given that he's always been notorious for dodgy swerves...

I never liked the one-move rule. It's too damn artificial, even compared with things such as the DRS. You should let the drivers defend as they see fit, and issue punishments if they get too carried away and drive dangerously on purpose, but making more than one move to defend doesn't necessarily need to be dangerous.

[AndreaModa]

The problem is the inevitable inconsistency in stewards decisions without the rule. Granted we pretty much have it anyway, but at least the rule provides some clarity. I personally wouldn't have classed Senna's move under braking as a 'second move' because it was minimal. But that's the problem, everyone has their own interpretation of it. With or without the rule, you'd always have controversy.

[Phoenix]

The problem is the inevitable inconsistency in stewards decisions without the rule. Granted we pretty much have it anyway, but at least the rule provides some clarity. I personally wouldn't have classed Senna's move under braking as a 'second move' because it was minimal. But that's the problem, everyone has their own interpretation of it. With or without the rule, you'd always have controversy.

Senna's move was a mistake, I believe, but neither part should have got any punishment. It's racing.

[DanielPT]

The problem is the inevitable inconsistency in stewards decisions without the rule. Granted we pretty much have it anyway, but at least the rule provides some clarity. I personally wouldn't have classed Senna's move under braking as a 'second move' because it was minimal. But that's the problem, everyone has their own interpretation of it. With or without the rule, you'd always have controversy.

Senna's move was a mistake, I believe, but neither part should have got any punishment. It's racing.

We all know how the stewards like to fiddle with that "it's racing" concept. Don't go mention that thing in their room or they might have an heart attack. I got astonished when they didn't gone penalty happy with those incidents involving Rosberg in Bahrain...

[mario]

The problem is the inevitable inconsistency in stewards decisions without the rule. Granted we pretty much have it anyway, but at least the rule provides some clarity. I personally wouldn't have classed Senna's move under braking as a 'second move' because it was minimal. But that's the problem, everyone has their own interpretation of it. With or without the rule, you'd always have controversy.

Senna's move was a mistake, I believe, but neither part should have got any punishment. It's racing.

We all know how the stewards like to fiddle with that "it's racing" concept. Don't go mention that thing in their room or they might have an heart attack. I got astonished when they didn't gone penalty happy with those incidents involving Rosberg in Bahrain...

The FIA managed to dig itself into a very ambiguous situation over the handling of Rosberg's defensive moves in Bahrain (interestingly, Rosberg did admit that he acted that aggressively in part because there was no barrier there, thereby allowing the trailing driver to take evasive action if necessary).

Although the Alonso-Rosberg incident might have gained more airtime, and whilst Charlie Whiting did later mention that Rosberg was right on the limit of what could be considered an acceptable defensive move (Rosberg did move across first, but only marginally earlier - had it been a fraction of a second later he would have been penalised), it seems that the Hamilton-Rosberg incident was heavily debated by the drivers in the pre-race briefing in Barcelona.
This seems to have raised an interesting quandary - technically, Hamilton's pass on Rosberg could be seen as illegal since it took place off the track, but on the other hand his defence was that he was in the process of taking avoiding action, having already committed to trying to pass Rosberg on his right hand side. The stewards noted that, but then failed to make any further mention of Hamilton's actions, which seems to have frustrated a number of drivers who felt that the FIA should have had a clearer stance about whether that was or wasn't an illegal move (something it seems the FIA obfuscated about).

[Phoenix]

We all know how the stewards like to fiddle with that "it's racing" concept. Don't go mention that thing in their room or they might have an heart attack. I got astonished when they didn't gone penalty happy with those incidents involving Rosberg in Bahrain...

The FIA managed to dig itself into a very ambiguous situation over the handling of Rosberg's defensive moves in Bahrain (interestingly, Rosberg did admit that he acted that aggressively in part because there was no barrier there, thereby allowing the trailing driver to take evasive action if necessary).

Although the Alonso-Rosberg incident might have gained more airtime, and whilst Charlie Whiting did later mention that Rosberg was right on the limit of what could be considered an acceptable defensive move (Rosberg did move across first, but only marginally earlier - had it been a fraction of a second later he would have been penalised), it seems that the Hamilton-Rosberg incident was heavily debated by the drivers in the pre-race briefing in Barcelona.
This seems to have raised an interesting quandary - technically, Hamilton's pass on Rosberg could be seen as illegal since it took place off the track, but on the other hand his defence was that he was in the process of taking avoiding action, having already committed to trying to pass Rosberg on his right hand side. The stewards noted that, but then failed to make any further mention of Hamilton's actions, which seems to have frustrated a number of drivers who felt that the FIA should have had a clearer stance about whether that was or wasn't an illegal move (something it seems the FIA obfuscated about).

Right on the limit? The fact there were no close barriers to the edge of the track doesn't mean Rosberg's move couldn't have created a potentially dangerous accident. What if Alonso or Hamilton collided with Rosberg and their cars became airborne, like Webber at Europe 2010? The criteria of the stewards is ridiculously inconsistent, and that "had it been a fraction of a second later he would have been penalised" is BS in my eyes. A fraction of a second means nothing at all in this situation. He deserved a penalty as much as Schumacher deserved the punishment he was given when he pushed Barrichello towards the pit wall at Hungary 2010.

[Sublime_FA11C]

Easy peasy this time 'round.

The Reverend

This GP already sounds like the dullest of the season. I think i know what my ROTR nomination will be.

I nominate: myself

That is what usually happens when you nominate RoTR way too early. ;)

It's only fun that way. Makes it seem awesome when you guess right. That's why i'll bet my house for Button to win Monaco...

[TheBigJ]

Easy peasy this time 'round.

The Reverend

This GP already sounds like the dullest of the season. I think i know what my ROTR nomination will be.

I nominate: myself

It's OK, somebody in the predictions thread nominated The Reverend for both RotR and DBTMOTR *cough*Wizzie*cough*

[TomWazzleshaw]

It's OK, somebody in the predictions thread nominated The Reverend for both RotR and DBTMOTR *cough*Wizzie*cough*

And I'll promptly award myself ROTPPR accordingly

[TheBigJ]

It's OK, somebody in the predictions thread nominated The Reverend for both RotR and DBTMOTR *cough*Wizzie*cough*

And I'll promptly award myself ROTPPR accordingly

You did exactly the same thing for China too...


Whoever Wizzie predicts as both RotR and DBTMOTR ends up winning!

[DanielPT]

It's OK, somebody in the predictions thread nominated The Reverend for both RotR and DBTMOTR *cough*Wizzie*cough*

And I'll promptly award myself ROTPPR accordingly

You did exactly the same thing for China too...


Whoever Wizzie predicts as both RotR and DBTMOTR ends up winning!

Must remember that before posting my predictions. It might become handy in the future!

[TomWazzleshaw]

And I'll promptly award myself ROTPPR accordingly

You did exactly the same thing for China too...


Whoever Wizzie predicts as both RotR and DBTMOTR ends up winning!

Must remember that before posting my predictions. It might become handy in the future!

Future being about 2 minutes from now

[DanielPT]

You did exactly the same thing for China too...


Whoever Wizzie predicts as both RotR and DBTMOTR ends up winning!

Must remember that before posting my predictions. It might become handy in the future!

Future being about 2 minutes from now

Or Thursday when making my predictions!

[Marco]

Will the offical ROTR be retroactively changed to Schumacher, now that he has ruined his pole for Monaco

[James1978]

Will the offical ROTR be retroactively changed to Schumacher, now that he has ruined his pole for Monaco

Not only that he deserves it even more after seeing the incident where he shortcut the track to block Hamilton - it was free practice for god's sake!!!! (Similar to what JPM did to Ralf in Monaco '05).

That was a total disgrace.