2016 Spanish GP - Reject of the Race

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 15 May 2016, 13:47

You know the deal. You get two picks, first receives 10pts for biggest screw-up of the day, and 6pts to the second biggest screw-up.

Polling closes Tue 17th May @ 1800 BST!

Biscione's Picks;
1st Lewis Hamilton
2nd TBA

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 15 May 2016, 13:51

1. Mercedes' drivers - no contest.
2. Ricciardo's tire

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 15 May 2016, 13:53

Mercedes driver
Uhh lauda?

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 15 May 2016, 13:54

1st Hamilton - Lazy, should have switched back

2nd the fire marshall - drivers shouldn't be fighting their own fires

Post by **Londoner** » 15 May 2016, 13:55

1. Lewis Hamilton - Yeah, that one was totally on him. Someone needs to remind him of that old saying that a race can't be won on the first lap, but it certainly can be lost.

2. Ferrari and Red Bull strategists - Verstappen won that race purely because he was on the least rubbish strategy. No idea what Ferrari were trying to achieve with Vettel.

Honourable mentions to Daniil Kvyat for doing piss-all this weekend, and Sean Gelael because I''m still astounded at that move in the GP2 race earlier today...

Post by **Miguel98** » 15 May 2016, 13:57

I'm holding out to this, because I still want to see what Mercedes do regarding PR.

rachel1990 · Post by **rachel1990** » 15 May 2016, 13:59

Tough one due to 3 contenders for points. One definitely wins for me but second place is tough one-

Honorable mention- Sky Sports- Total British Bias this weekend- How the hell was that Totally Rosberg's fault guys. Then they decided that Rakkionen or Riccardo did not deserve to win and they were 100% wanting Max to win. Surely they shouldn't be cheering on racers instead telling us what is going on??

6 points- Red Bull. They wanted Max to win no matter what and therefore they shoved Riccardo on the poorer Strategy and decided that he would come second even though he out qualified his teammate and my opinion outraced him. Welcome to Number 2 driver Daniel. Mark can tell you all about it.

10 points- Mercedes. Dear oh dear. No matter who's fault it was (I'm leaning towards Hamilton but its 60-40) it is clear that the team has imploded this weekend and this could be the starting point of what is to come for a tougher 2016 and 2017.

GerhardTalger · Post by **GerhardTalger** » 15 May 2016, 14:01

1. Mercedes
2. Ferrari strategists

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 15 May 2016, 14:04

10 - Mercedes F1. lol

6 - Fire Marshal - Faillll

HM - Sky Sports

lance_rambert · Post by **lance_rambert** » 15 May 2016, 14:05

1st (Shared). Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton - What the bathplug was that, seriously? I am pretty grateful that it produced this wonderful race, but let's not mess around here, that was a very dumb incident caused by two rather impatient goits. Hamilton gets bonus points for being boneheaded enough to attempt to pass ON THE GRASS.

2nd. Sky Sports F1 Broadcasting Team - That was just completely unbearable to listen to. Constant pro-Hamilton bias was aloof, trying to place the blame on Rosberg in whatever way possible. Even Martin Brundle lost a few respect points with me today. I'm not saying anymore because I'd get too salty. That was (now beyond) NBCSN NASCAR tier terrible.

Now just Sky gets the runner up after seeing Nico's post-race interview. That stupid woman should've stop trying to bait Nico into saying more crap for the Hamilton fans to poop themselves over. For bathplugs sake...

HM:

Red Bull's Strategists - Double podium lost, and now conspiracy theories run among the galleries.

Me - Does anyone edit their posts as much as I did?

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 15 May 2016, 14:06

1. The strategists of Red Bull and Ferrari, for being wrong about which strategy was better and making the winner unrelated to talent
2. Hamilton, for going into a closing wedge instead of just going left, indirectly letting me be so angry about Verstappen winning instead of Vettel

Aislabie · Post by **Aislabie** » 15 May 2016, 14:07

10 points - Mercedes
A double Lap One DNF, and an engine failure for Hulkenberg's Force India as well.

6 points - the fire martial that gave up and just handed over his extinguisher for Hulkenberg to put out his own engine.

Honourable mentions: various strategists, Manor, Rio Haryanto ("get him out of the way, he thinks he's quick but he's not").

pi314159 · Post by **pi314159** » 15 May 2016, 14:09

Lewis Hamilton - A three time world champion should know better than trying to pass on the grass.

Dom_Wings · Post by **Dom_Wings** » 15 May 2016, 14:11

1. Mercedes - WTF?
2. The fire marshals - Are they supposed to be fire marshals when they cannot even extinguish a fire properly?

HM. Sean Gelael in GP2 - Started from pit lane due to some quali shenanigans, then caught speeding in the pit lane, the next race made a mess out of Giovinazzi.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 15 May 2016, 14:17

1. Lewis Hamilton - Nothing to add, really...
2. Conspiracy theorists in the Spanish GP thread - Seriously :facepalm:

Meatwad · Post by **Meatwad** » 15 May 2016, 14:17

1. Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team: HAHAHAHAHA! :lol:

2. Placido Domingo: Gave the win to a totally unknown driver, Marcus Verstappen. Nice of him to remember Ericsson, though.

Enforcer · Post by **Enforcer** » 15 May 2016, 14:20

1st. Lewis Hamilton: "I'm going to try my usual tactic of trying to bully other drivers into getting out of my way instead of learning to overtake properly."

2nd. Lewis Hamilton: Can I give him 16 points cos I don't like him?

Proper 2nd: The Stewarts: Pre-empting - I'll bet they'll reprimand Rosberg for not leaving enough room because technically speaking Lewis had his nose in. Although nose level with rear tyres isn't what any rational person would consider proper overlap.

AxelP800 · Post by **AxelP800** » 15 May 2016, 14:21

1. Ricciardo. Why? He yoloed too much on Vettel and loses a chance to win. Not that I complain he yoloed though.
2. Button for complaining for Haryanto. Look IndyCar and WEC. What is blue flags?

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 15 May 2016, 14:22

1. Mercedes. Dumb move from Lewis, dumb defence from Rosberg. You can't expect to leave zero room on the inside and not to suffer consequences. No one would have attempted that sort of defence 20 years ago. Same goes for Hamilton. If you leave a small margin it won't end in tears. You think Alonso would have attempted either that attack or defence? Of course not. Both as bad as each other there.

2. Raikkonen. For making no attempt to pass Verstappen at all, Ricciardo showed how it was done.

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 15 May 2016, 14:25

FMecha wrote:1. Mercedes' drivers - no contest.
2. Ricciardo's tire

What he said. Any time I say "that's a slam-dunk Reject Of The Race" while the race is on gets my ten points, which the Merc drivers do for their hitting-each-other incident.

Dan's tyre can have another 6 points even though it didn't drop him out the points as I thought it might.

girry · Post by **girry** » 15 May 2016, 14:25

I dislike the Mercedes guys a lot, but I don't think they deserve the ROTR here. That was BOUND to happen if the guys race each other for the title for 40 races (although their record of being fine with pushing each other off in a consistent basis certainly made it even more probable for something like this to occur...)

Therefore
1. The Fire Marshal for sheer comedy value
2. Romain Grosjean - GutiGuti had the upper hand today
HM. Placido Domingo - how many times does he have to make the podium interview to prove he's not really upto it?

AndreaModa wrote:2. Raikkonen. For making no attempt to pass Verstappen at all, Ricciardo showed how it was done.

Yes he did, and it would have ended in tears if not for Vettel's reflexes - certainly lost the race for the duo. I wonder if Kimi had made similar attempts before Ricciardo's divebomb, would the front 4 have been completely inverted...?

Samster · Post by **Samster** » 15 May 2016, 14:29

1. Mercedes drivers - I never thought Nico's winning streek would end that way.

I chuckled for a good couple of minutes at their collision. A racing incident ultimately but a hilarious one at that.

2. Red Bull Whether it was a genuine strategy goof or a manipulation to give golden boy the best possible chance of victory, either way Ricciardo has to be cheesed off at this. Verstappen and Sainz at Red Bull with Ricciardo defecting to Ferrari in 2017? You heard it here first.

Mentions

British Bias - I hate British sporting fan bases, trying to pin the majority of the blame on Nico is a classic example of why.

In Hindsight

Golden boy's ego - Don't think you did anything that half the grid couldn't have achieved under the same circumstances. And that includes the poor guy you replaced.

On suicide watch

Daniil Kvyat - If getting demoted wasn't enough of a sting.

novitopoli · Post by **novitopoli** » 15 May 2016, 14:31

1. Mercedes - both drivers out at the first lap with a incredibly stupid move, Lauda immediately blaming Hamilton on RTL (no matter who's the one to blame, you just DON'T DEAL THIS WAY WITH THE MATTER ON LIVE TV, at least not so soon), and now Hamilton and Rosberg have to appear in front of the stewards. I've the feeling one of them will leave - and it will be Hamilton.

2. Shared between:
- Red Bull and Ferrari's strategists, for trying to gift each other the race win.
- The marshal and his fire extinguisher misadventure.
- Christian Danner for bragging about Vettel being the "actual race leader", as Max and Kimi would NEVER have lasted on those tires (ignoring the fact Vettel's tyres were only three laps younger, which is almost nothing when it comes to mediums)

tBone · Post by **tBone** » 15 May 2016, 14:35

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Nico Rosberg

Why in this order? Because I feel like it was slightly more Lewis' fault than Nico's.

Dan B · Post by **Dan B** » 15 May 2016, 14:46

1) Mercedes: This was bound to happen since 2014. While I don't think Rosberg is entirely blameless, Hamilton should've expected what Rosberg was trying to do. This isn't the first time we've seen Rosberg force someone offline (didn't he do it at Bahrain a few years ago?) and should've just waited until the next turn. Ultimately the stewards will have the final say, but if they will apportion blame to anyone (though I personally think it was a(n albeit disastrous) racing incident), it should go to Hamilton.

2) Ferrari's strategist: Who hired the strategist from Williams? Also, Ricciardo's strategy was also pretty bad so that strategist also gets a nomination.

Honorable Mentions:
Marshals: Right, first try to spray on the rear wing on the car instead of the fire, and then give it to the driver to put it out himself. I know most of these guys are volunteers but some better training would be nice.

Ricciardo: I know this seems a bit controversial but he made some pretty desperate lunges at Vettel. I mean sure he tried but it didn't seem like any of those moves were going to work.

Haas: Collision between the two drivers, Grosjean gets damaged and then falls to the back while Gutierrez just falls over to 11th with no fight. Not a good showing.

Post by **mario** » 15 May 2016, 14:48

AndreaModa wrote:1. Mercedes. Dumb move from Lewis, dumb defence from Rosberg. You can't expect to leave zero room on the inside and not to suffer consequences. No one would have attempted that sort of defence 20 years ago. Same goes for Hamilton. If you leave a small margin it won't end in tears. You think Alonso would have attempted either that attack or defence? Of course not. Both as bad as each other there.

2. Raikkonen. For making no attempt to pass Verstappen at all, Ricciardo showed how it was done.

Although I have only seen the replays (having missed the first half of the race, I must confess), I'd have to agree that neither Rosberg nor Hamilton covered themselves in glory there. Hamilton went for a very aggressive pass when Rosberg's angle across the track was going to push him out, perhaps out of a sense of frustration at being beaten off the line and given that it is notoriously difficult to make a passing move stick around this circuit.

As for Rosberg, the onboard footage suggests that he was looking down into the cockpit, having put the engine in the wrong harvesting mode on the start line, when he began to move towards the right hand side of the track. At the very least, it suggests that Rosberg was momentarily distracted whilst he was fiddling with the MGU-H switch on the steering wheel as he went through Turn 3 and therefore might have unintentionally drifted further across the track than he'd intended because of that.

To be honest, I'm not really sure who else deserves a nomination given that I missed a fair bit of the race, but I guess that Alonso's retirement might go up there simply because it was a shame that his efforts were rewarded with just another early bath.

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 15 May 2016, 15:00

1. Rosberg. That wasn't a weave, it was a lunge and was considered 'forcing someone off the track' by the stewards at the last race.
2. Hamilton. He didn't really think he was gonna pull that off did he?
nb. I'm no Lewis fan-boy.

HM: Ferrari. The absence of the Mercedes' flattered you but your cars and your strategy are still nowhere, and Red Bull are challenging.

SeedStriker · Post by **SeedStriker** » 15 May 2016, 15:00

1) Mercedes: Hamilton too agressive attack + Rosberg too stupid defense = Double DNF

2) Fire Marshall: Comedy moment of the weekend

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 15 May 2016, 15:28

1) The Mercedes drivers for taking each other out.
2) Alonso's car - If it weren't for Sainz, I'd say Fernando would be the unluckiest man in F1 right now.

RedEyes504 · Post by **RedEyes504** » 15 May 2016, 15:43

Lewis Hamilton - A ridiculous move to attempt on the first lap against your teammate

Romain Grosjean - Outpaced by Gutierrez and generally had a scrappy race

Collieafc · Post by **Collieafc** » 15 May 2016, 16:22

10 points - The strategists who thought a 3 stop was better than 2 by going Soft-Med-Soft-Med. If your going to do the 3 stops at least put the softer tyre on at the end to allow a last gasp charge, but if that was the case you would be better with a 2 stop soft-med-soft. Both Vettel and Riccardo's race was ruined by this

6 points: The reason I have not upvoted this higher as although teammates taking each other out is usually a classic 10 pointer, we sort of knew this would happen and it added extra excitement to a normally processional venue. That and Toto Wolff holding fire with the blame, makes me think he realistically knew this was going to happen eventually and is probably surprised its been 3 seasons before it did

HM - the clueless fire marshals. A GP is not a time for a siesta

HM2: the BBC vote on who to blame. The Lewisteria is sickening

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 15 May 2016, 17:18

1 - Mercedes: Nothing more to say.

2 - Haas: The team had a good strategy for the first stint of the race and Spain is well know for being a track which is difficult to pass. Instead of making another long stint with the medium tyres, the team put the soft tyres in both cars too early. Haas threw away points in this race in my point of view.

Normal32 · Post by **Normal32** » 15 May 2016, 17:27

1. Race Control
2. Rosberg

Peteroli34 · Post by **Peteroli34** » 15 May 2016, 18:00

1- Mercedes - Rule one of being team mates don't crash into each other

2. Fire Marshall - Its your job to put out the fire

Post by **Miguel98** » 15 May 2016, 18:35

1. Race Control - FOR THE LOVE OF GOD... Get the tyres right :facepalm:

2. Tyre Strategists - Well, that was retarded.

HM:
Mercedes - For that. And that only.

CaptainGetz12 · Post by **CaptainGetz12** » 15 May 2016, 18:44

1) Lewis Hamilton. Don't know if he thought that "pass in the grass" maneuver would actually work, but it took out his teammate and prevented Mercedes from going for a clean sweep of every race this year.

2) Ferrari and Red Bull Tire Strategies. For three of the four drivers of the two teams the strategy was a bit wonky. The stops gave Verstappen the boost needed to score the win when Ferrari and Ricciardo had the odds in their favor.

(Dis)honorable Mentions:

Fire Marshall: Kept that section 3 caution on far beyond what should have been a brief incident. At least not much overtaking takes place in that section.

Romain Grosjean: Not to rag on Guti, but Grosjean fell apart in the last half of the race. May have had the chance to pick up more points for Haas if he faired better.

People Blaming Nico Rosberg for the lap 1 crash: This is getting pretty stupid guys. :facepalm:

Kevin Magnussen: Got a bit too aggressive in the final lap. Stewards may have been a bit too harsh though.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 15 May 2016, 19:19

To the exclusive club that includes those dudes in China last year who couldn't navigate that Toro Rosso (I think) into the pitlane and that guy in Canada who fell over loads of times in front of the oncoming Heidfeld may we welcome the Spanish Fire Marshall who must have been siestering when the actual Fire Marshalling Lessons were being taught.

And, of course, the beloved Mercedes drivers for being inspired by Christian Horners wife attending the race and so launching into their own version of her Spice Girls global smash hit "Two Becomes One" at Turn 4.

burwellian · Post by **burwellian** » 15 May 2016, 20:41

10 - Nico Rosberg. Having his car set to harvest, you'll lose power. As a result, and as mentioned above, that wasn't a weave but a desperate lunge and left his teammate (who was already alongside his rear wheels) nowhere to go but the grass. Only one way that was going to end.

6 - Danii Kvyat. Demoted to the B Team, his replacement winning the race over a lap ahead of him, and he ends up overtaking under the safety car and barely scraping a point, beaten by his team mate Sainz. Not a stellar week for him.

Bleu · Post by **Bleu** » 15 May 2016, 20:42

1. Mercedes GP drivers - forgetting rule #1, don't crash with your team-mate
2. Esteban Gutierrez - Giving easily way for drivers on the same lap, while front-runners had some troubles lapping him.

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 15 May 2016, 20:59

1. Hamilton -- He was an idiot.
2. RoGro -- All I saw from him was terrible stuff