Your Reject of the Year!

[FullMetalJack]

Here's my podium.

3rd - Pedro de la Rosa - not only was he outclassed by rookie Kobayashi, but he also scored in 14 races exactly as many points as substitute Heidfeld scored in... five races.

If you take into account that DLR's car let him down at Bahrain, Malaysia, China -while running 5th!- and Monaco and that he was taken out by other guys through no fault of his own at Spain, Montreal, Germany and -possibly- Great Britain, and the fact that the Sauber was a much slower car in the early part of the season, it's not that bad.

What really amazes me is that Heidfeld has managed to finish the season without changing any engine; DLR took a 10-place penalty for using a 9th engine as far back as Spa.

Beings as it's Heidfeld, it doesn't really surprise me

[Salamander]

My ROTR podium goes thusly:

3rd - Michael Schumacher: Easily the biggest let down of 2010 (other than Kubica not winning, but that's just me). Of course, some of this is down to the car which was designed for Jenson Button, but Rosberg didn't seem to mind about that, did he? Schumacher had a few good races, like Turkey, Spain, Korea, and Japan, but he went from Canada to Singapore scoring a grand total of 12 points when Rosberg scored 56, making numerous driving errors en route, and basically underperforming as bad as Petrov.

2nd - Xtrac: Pure and simple, Xtrac has been the bane of the new teams. How many times did they have a problem related to hydraulics and the gearbox? The system ended Timo Glock's fantastic performance in Singapore prematurely, and cost Lotus and HRT enough that they held up their hands and went elsewhere. When you have HRT fleeing, you know something has to be very, very wrong.

1st - Vitantonio Liuzzi: Remember that string of points finishes Sutil had, where he scored 25 points over 6 races? It took Tonio 17 races to overcome that. His race in Korea was pretty much the only highlight in a season when, under last years points system, he would've scored 5 points. The Force India was no world beater this year, but Tonio's fumbling definitely cost them 6th in the Constructors' Championship, and although he has a contract for next year with them, I would not be at all surprised if we saw Paul di Resta in his seat next season.

I disqualify HRT from this as my expectations were for them simply to last the season. Besides which, they were at least somewhat entertaining in their calamity. I can't say the same for the three above entities.

[Chewie]

Bernie Ecclestone because....................

..........do I need a specific reason?

[Ed24]

Thanks for the Xtrac reminder, I'll change my previous post

[Enforcer]

3. Mercedes Benz GP - A late upsurge in form wasn't quite enough to save them from an honourable mention. Yes they scored podiums, yes they were 4th in the Championship. But having previously been WCC and WDC. It's a step down, and but for the form of Rosberg (& ocassionally Schumacher), it could've been worse.

2. XTrac - How many Virgin/Lotus/HRT gearbox or hydraulic breakages, exactly?

1. Vitaly Petrov - This might meet with some disagreement, but apart from the last race and a brief midseason purple patch, Petrov's been nowhere near Kubica. As a matter of fact, the greatest points gap between any two team-mates has been between Petrov and Kubica. Kubica may be an exceptional driver, but Petrov was routinely outperformed by the likes of Kobayashi, Sutil, the Williames in inferior machinery. His lack of points is the big reason, in my book, why Renault were never able to overhaul Mercedes for 4th in Constructor's. Throw in plenty of errors and I have to view him as the weakest driver on the grid.

[rffp]

My picks for ROTY:

3rd - New teams - what was on FIA's mind when they chose these three (four) teams for 2010? HRT remembered some of those amateurish teams of the 80s and early 90s such as Eurobrun, Virgin and their virtual car had the most embarassing design flaw of decades (the small fuel tank), USF1 never showed up and Lotus did show some improvement but too few to save face.

2nd - Pedro de la Rosa - why Pete Sauber chose this guy instead of someone like Nick Heidfeld beats me. He was anonymous most of the year and left F-1 (again) without being missed.

3rd - Tonio Liuzzi - he did make a great race in Korea, but nothing else. Too many crashes, Q1 eliminations, errors, besides been easily beaten by Sutil the whole year. Probably won't be in F-1 next year and for certain won't be missed.

[Vassago]

My picks for ROTR:

3. Mercedes Grand Prix - For all the pre-season talk about rocking the title boat, it quickly emerged Mercedes was a distant 4th in the pecking order and quite frankly Kubica's flashes of brilliance left them embarrassed on a constant basis as well. The decision of reverting their focus on 2011 was the end of the road for all the mojo-building proccess and moreover Schumacher quickly pulled the plug out of the season, not only suggesting he's out of this league by now, in fact his mind seems to not have the good old sharpness as it used to. The joyful smile after the tangle with Liuzzi in Abu Dhabi almost gave a big clue, he doesn't even care. Ross Brawn didn't show any pit magic to avenge the fact, Mercedes was a second tier car at best and the cloud of alleged favourism of Schuey to improve his performance mid-season at the expence of Rosberg effectively cost Nico 6th place in the standings (he finished only 2 pts behind Massa in the end).

2. Pedro de la Rosa - His comeback was always going to be under suspicion, but despite all the reliability woes at the beginning of the season, he played second fiddle to Kobayashi all year long (well, until Monza that is). Kobayashi was the great unknown before 2010 and de la Rosa was supposed to be the team leader. Instead she failed to get out of the mediocrity zone and seemed happy to ride out the season before being given the boot which cut this plausible performance for good. His late-race mistake at Spa when he threw away soild points finish was a rookie-like stuff, unexceptable for someone who is supposed to pick up the points in favourable circumstances. Pedro proved just too old for the big league and has nothing to justify a positive mark for his antics.

1. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Another case when driver was given a life-line out of the blue when his F1 career seemed to be over. Adrian Sutil was a good benchmark as teammate and with the German's continuous flashes of impatience and aggression, Liuzzi could have really settled in as a solid performer to boost Force India's overall score. On the contrary, Liuzzi never threatened the established midfield but for the early races when there was a lot of attrition. Canada was his final really good showing, since then he completely derailed and was always the top candidate to go out in Q1 along with the Toro Rossos. Sutil spurred an impressive mid-season streak which Liuzzi had no responce to and when the rumours about Paul di Resta increased, he never really did anything to justify his place in Force India cockpit for 2011 should be retained. Four accidents in the last five races didn't do him any good even if Singapore was the only one where he can take the full responsibility. I guess when it rains, it pours for poor Tonio. His below-par performances all season mean that Paul di Resta really should be given his chance of F1 IMO. Liuzzi had a couple of them already and failed to impress at any stage but for the lone wet Shanghai race in 2007.

[jpm]

3. Felipe Massa - same car as Alonso and was on miserable form apart from Germany and Italy.
2. Michael Schumacher - well he didnt match Rosberg all year really did he?
1. Tonio Liuzzi - still making rookie mistakes 7 years after graduating from f3000. a poor year.

Honourary mention to USF1 for obvioous reasons.

[jpm]

Worst 5 drivers (in no particular order):

Liuzzi
Di Grassi
Senna
de la Rosa
Buemi

What about Sakon Yamamoto?

[ADx_Wales]

Jonathan Legard - Just not crucial enough going down the hill, can he be reject? That'll do.

Stefano Domenicali - Treated every knowledgeable F1 fan as if they were dimwits.

The Berating of HRT - You cannot help kicking them when they're down can ya, you horrible, horrible people.

[CarlosFerreira]

The Berating of HRT - You cannot help kicking them when they're down can ya, you horrible, horrible people.

I rise my hands and hang my head in shame. I have changed my signature and retired the Twitter tag earlier today. Hang around, Colin Kolles!

[FullMetalJack]

HRT did not finish last, stop nominating them.

[Aerospeed]

3rd - New Bahrain Layout
The track gave a false "crystal ball" reading on the new season. Everyone went ballistic on if the new rules would make the sport boring. Then we found out that it wasn't as bad as it was, and we eventually had four drivers fight the title in the last round. I'm sorry, but I still have that eerie feeling after Bahrain 2010.

2nd - Team Orders
Just like New Bahrain, everyone went ballistic when Massa let Alonso through, and everyone went even more ballistic when Ferrari wasn't penalized with points. The title race was nearly tainted because of this.

1st - New Teams
Mercedes and Sauber doesn't count, because Mercedes bought out Brawn, and BMW simply dropped out and Sauber kept on going. However, Lotus, Virgin, and HRT simply did not come even close to scoring points, always finishing lapped, and almost always being stuck in Q1. Lotus simply wouldn't go fast, and Virgin and HRT's cars were not very good in aerodynamics (im sure the cars were aerodynamic, but very slightly). Overall, a rubbish year, ruining two teams' well being and ruining the reputation of another. Masked talents drove these cars.

I rise my hands and hang my head in shame. I have changed my signature and retired the Twitter tag earlier today. Hang around, Colin Kolles!

What did you do, bet your arm and leg that Alonso was going to win the title?

[CarlosFerreira]

I rise my hands and hang my head in shame. I have changed my signature and retired the Twitter tag earlier today. Hang around, Colin Kolles!

What did you do, bet your arm and leg that Alonso was going to win the title?

HRT have grown on me.

[Salamander]

I rise my hands and hang my head in shame. I have changed my signature and retired the Twitter tag earlier today. Hang around, Colin Kolles!

What did you do, bet your arm and leg that Alonso was going to win the title?

HRT have grown on me.

You sure that 'I Believe In USF1' avatar hasn't messed with your head?

[Aerospeed]

I rise my hands and hang my head in shame. I have changed my signature and retired the Twitter tag earlier today. Hang around, Colin Kolles!

What did you do, bet your arm and leg that Alonso was going to win the title?

HRT have grown on me.

So you thought HRT was going to score points? Hmm
Please correct me if I'm wrong

[CarlosFerreira]

You sure that 'I Believe In USF1' avatar hasn't messed with your head?

So you thought HRT was going to score points? Hmm
Please correct me if I'm wrong

The avatar was richly deserved; well done, Petrov. I went on thinking HRT didn't belong in F1 at all for months, now I just hope they hang around.

[Yannick]

The winner may well turn out to be Richard Branson. From cheaply placing his logos onto the World Championship winning car in one season to buying the name rights to the car that gets the last place in the standings in the next season and knowing that said car will not see any wind tunnel at all ever, is just ridiculous for a sponsor. This site's prestigious year end award would make a perfect addition to Richard's Air Asia stewardess costume.

Hey, but really, shouldn't this one go to Nick Wirth instead?

[Myrvold]

To be more impressive than one of Yamamoto, Chandhok or Klien?

Well, to be fair, after being outpaced by Klien in Singapore, he did seem to find some motivation for the last two races, and he was clearly faster this weekend. I think the dropoff in the middle of the season had to do with motivation,- and the one-race drop he got.

[Cynon]

Bridgestone -- Soft tires are supposed to wear off quickly! Occasional mistakes with tires are forgivable, consistent mistakes are not. Good riddance, get out of F1!

Buemi -- Even more embarrassing in his sophomore year than Sebastien Bourdais. Showed no pace at all and was hardly noticable during the races. At least people like Petrov, Kobayashi, and Hulkenberg show some signs of improvement. The only improvement Buemi showed through the season was his abilities at being a target for the new teams to shoot at. Get out of F1!

Liuzzi -- Rookie errors are one thing, but this is someone who by now should have known better than that. He had a few really good drives, but he was in Toro Rosso land most of the time. His teammate would be on this reject podium as well, but I don't have room for four... oh yeah, get out of F1!

Nominate in any order and I will be happy.

[Aerond]

The winner may well turn out to be Richard Branson. From cheaply placing his logos onto the World Championship winning car in one season to buying the name rights to the car that gets the last place in the standings in the next season and knowing that said car will not see any wind tunnel at all ever, is just ridiculous for a sponsor. This site's prestigious year end award would make a perfect addition to Richard's Air Asia stewardess costume.

Hey, but really, shouldn't this one go to Nick Wirth instead?

Yeah, Nick Wirth for consistently developing the worst cars on the grid (Andrea Moda, being involved in Bravo F1, Simtek -ok, beaten at that by Pacific and Forti, but he was an inept commercially speaking- and then Virgin)

[Salamander]

Hey, but really, shouldn't this one go to Nick Wirth instead?

Maybe we could give Nick Wirth a lifetime-achievement award or some such?

[ADx_Wales]

...For Services to Rejectism.

Simtek
The Pre-Renault Benetton Era
Virgin

The Man is committed to failiure.

[Myrvold]

Yeah, Nick Wirth for consistently developing the worst cars on the grid (Andrea Moda, being involved in Bravo F1, Simtek -ok, beaten at that by Pacific and Forti, but he was an inept commercially speaking- and then Virgin)

Wasn't Nick Wirth with Benetton in the late 90's?

EDIT: Yes, from 96-99 so he couldn't be THAT bad.

[Aerond]

Yeah, Nick Wirth for consistently developing the worst cars on the grid (Andrea Moda, being involved in Bravo F1, Simtek -ok, beaten at that by Pacific and Forti, but he was an inept commercially speaking- and then Virgin)

Wasn't Nick Wirth with Benetton in the late 90's?

EDIT: Yes, from 96-99 so he couldn't be THAT bad.

Yeah, that´s the era when Benetton passed from a top team to the mid of the field;

Constructors positions by Benetton:

1995: 1st
1996: 3rd
1997: 3rd
1998: 5th
1999: 6th

[Nuppiz]

Yeah, that´s the era when Benetton passed from a top team to the mid of the field;

Constructors positions by Benetton:

1995: 1st
1996: 3rd
1997: 3rd
1998: 5th
1999: 6th

Although you can hardly blame Wirth of it, given that Schumi, Brawn, Byrne etc. had just left the team.

[Walsh_e]

3rd: Massa: Not only beaten by his team mate but didn't even put up a fight!

2nd: Liuzzi: Deadbeat teammate, pretty much awful all season, STILL making novice mistakes!

1st: Schumacher: 7 time world champion, most race wins, most pole positions, "greatest" driver of all time, what did he do this year? Nothing! Behind his team mate almost all season, 70 points behind his team mate and barely into the top 10 drivers. Sure, he had his excuses, the car, the tyres, the rules etc, but it didn't hold back Rosberg who we can surely all agree isn't the greatest ever driver. Add on to that stupid beyond rookie errors and a few awful performances (ie. China, where Vitally Petrov caught and easily passed the "greatest" driver of all time in the wet!) His return comfirmed either of two things a) he is past it (strongly denied from Mercedes and Schumacher) or b) he is nothing without a passive teammate and a team only concerned with him. Take your pick.

Honorable mention goes to Force India, after losing alot of their staff mid season they have gone backwards at an alarming rate, if the new teams improve then they could end up back were they started as the worst team on the grid next year.

[Peter]

3rd. Pedro de la Rosa - Engine failure, after engine failure, after engine failure, and whenever his engine didn't fail, he was never as fast as Kamui, ever. And he gets sacked for Heidfield close to the end of the season.

2nd. Nico Hulkenberg - Even a pole position in the 2nd to last race, and some other good results in the 2nd half of the season, usually equaling, and even beating his very experienced teammate on a few occasions, he gets sacked for a guy with money.


1st. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Most of the time outclassed by Sutil, except for a few occasions, and only few good results, and running up a repair bill, may have cost Liuzzi a drive for 2011 at FI, or anywhere at all.

[the Masked Lapwing]

3rd: Xtrac - A gearbox that was as pointless as HRT (see what I did there?)
2nd: Pedro de la Rosa - Outclassed by Kobayashi and the only driver to be replaced because he was underperforming. Oh dear...
1st: Vitantonio Liuzzi - Why did he even bother? When I saw him hit Schumacher I said: "Well, I hope he enjoyed his time at FI."

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

3rd) Xtrac Transmission Technology- For ruining the debuts of Lotus, Virgin, and Hispania. At least, most of the time.

2nd) Scuderia Toro Rosso- They looked fine at the beginning, but recently, they've simply been bathplugging up too often, and I dare say Alguersuari holding up Massa was a pre-race team order. Buemi stabbing Glock was worse, and I honestly hope STR get rid of both drivers now, or just get the hell out of F1.

1st) Vitantonio Liuzzi- I honestly thought that a Sutil-Liuzzi combination would reap in results for Indian Force prior to the season beginning, but right now, I'm left wondering how this man became the last F3000 champion.

Special mentions go to Abu Dhabi being the season finale, as Vettel obviously cannot spray Rose Water like Champagne and Lotus putting Fauzy in a car at all.

[McJaggers]

3rd) STR- Just a mediocre performance in such a developed unit. Its effectively a Red Bull advertising slogan that catches glimpses of air time every time one of its drivers ploughs into the barriers. Furthermore, the logo is too close to RBR, causing my heart to jump whenever they inevitably crash.

2nd) Felipe Massa - For going from 2008 heroics to the necessary sidekick to f1's present villain.

1st) Rule changes - This was a very good season between races, because the continuous wins and losses brought forth interesting opportunities for the 5 drivers potentially in the running. But nothing brought in by the f1 rule changes for 2010 were responsible for it. Sure, a rule shake up, year upon year brings about teams with opportunities to excel, but the continuation of the DDD, Everlasting tyres, Stupidly inflated points system (just bring back the <2003 system), Removal of fuel stops, Allowance of F-Duct devices etc. Made this season for most part, dull and uninteresting on race day.

[CarlosFerreira]

Hey, but really, shouldn't this one go to Nick Wirth instead?

Maybe we could give Nick Wirth a lifetime-achievement award or some such?

Yeah. I mean, they were working on a shoe-string budget, had nothing but an old Sinclair in which to pretend to do CFD and still were almost as fast as Lotus most of the time. Pure rejectdom, but the sort I personally appreciate.

[Ed24]

What about Sakon Yamamoto?

He's not far away, but apart from Germany, he actually wasn't too bad, and improved on Senna every race until finally outqualifying him.

[madmark1974]

Although Liuzzi is a strong candidate, I'm going for Massa. Worst of the best by a long distance, no wins for 2 seasons (ok 1 and a half, but you get the idea), and may never
win / be allowed to win again. This was a man who could occasionally beat Schumacher in 'his' team, and beat Raikkonen over an entire season. He's gone from Championship
contender to probably never having a sniff ever again. Is it due to the Hungary 2009 incident? I don't believe it is, he's allowed Alonso to trample all over him and has lost his
power within the team. After his Ferrari contract is up, I'm afraid the only was is down for him. A shame, as he seems a nice guy, but teamed with 'Dick Dastardly' Alonso he
was always going to finish last ...

[Aerond]

2nd) Felipe Massa - For going from 2008 heroics to the necessary sidekick to f1's present villain.

I don´t know how Alonso is "f1´s present villain". Presumably only for the british press, I would add.

[madmark1974]

2nd) Felipe Massa - For going from 2008 heroics to the necessary sidekick to f1's present villain.

I don´t know how Alonso is "f1´s present villain". Presumably only for the british press, I would add.

For his behaviour. Examples :

Bullying past Massa in the pitlane as he couldn't pass him on track.
Making Massa move over because he couldn't pass him in Germany.
Having a strop at Petrov because he couldn't pass him.
For passing Kubica off the track at Silverstone and not moving over.
For complaining about the safety car at Valencia.

Off the top of my head ...

[TomWazzleshaw]

Bullying past Massa in the pitlane as he couldn't pass him on track.

I have a theory... this theory is that move Alonso put on Massa at China was THE move that destroyed Massa's confidence and not the incident at Germany.

[Aerond]

I don´t know how Alonso is "f1´s present villain". Presumably only for the british press, I would add.

For his behaviour. Examples :

1. Bullying past Massa in the pitlane as he couldn't pass him on track.
2. Making Massa move over because he couldn't pass him in Germany.
3. Having a strop at Petrov because he couldn't pass him.
4. For passing Kubica off the track at Silverstone and not moving over.
5. For complaining about the safety car at Valencia.

Off the top of my head ...

As I said, probably only for the british press.
About the situations you expose:
1/2. Team orders have always existed, and will always exist. F1 is a TEAM SPORT (or spectacle, but I won´t start a debate about that now). The only thing about the Germany gate is that Ferrari didn´t manage the situation as supposed, when everybody was watching. That´s it. You can also consider Red Bull sending Mark Webber yesterday into a suicidal strategy a team order... and I don´t see anybody complain!!
3. It´s natural Alonso was frustrated just after losing the title.
4. Oh, come on. Watch the replay again. Kubica left no space at all for Alonso there. The only mistake Alonso made was to believe the stewards would forgive him because Kubica left him no space. But, again, it was a Ferrari mistake too; the team told Alonso that he hadn´t done anything illegal when Alonso asked.
5. The stewards gained the ROTR for off-timing the safety car in Valencia (and the penalty to Hamilton). A few years ago a driver would have been inmediately black-flagged if did what Hamilton did. I reckon it was pathetic watching Alonso whining about the whole situation, but he had a point there, as Vettel and Hamilton benefited from having the Safety car, while the new safety car rules came to avoid this kind of situation.

[CarlosFerreira]

Bullying past Massa in the pitlane as he couldn't pass him on track.

I have a theory... this theory is that move Alonso put on Massa at China was THE move that destroyed Massa's confidence and not the incident at Germany.

I'm buying your theory.

But, to be honest, I remember Lewis saying how difficult it was to be Alonso's team mate just on pure and simple pace: he said he'd go out, improve more than expected, and the come back into the pits and find Alonso ahead by a couple of tenths. He'd go out again, be three tenths quicker, come back - and find Alonso another two tenths ahead. If you allow doubt to creep in after a few days of this, you're toast.

In fact, this might just have been what Sebastien did to Webber.

[Aerond]

What about Sakon Yamamoto?

He's not far away, but apart from Germany, he actually wasn't too bad, and improved on Senna every race until finally outqualifying him.

I knew someone would soon use that avatar