2014 Shell Belgian GP Reject Of The Race Thread

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 24 Aug 2014, 16:34

The TV coverage was terrible - so many things that we didn't see. That seems to be pretty normal these days though, sadly.

Also normal these days is Lewis whinging on and on about his lot. This 'woe is me' nonsense is getting beyond a joke (and shame on most of the Sky F1 lot for going overboard on it) and therefore I'm nominating Lewis
It makes me laugh that he idolises Senna. If he'd been in that McLaren at Interlagos in 91, he would presumably have parked it up a few laps from the end.

Of course, the booing was dreadful as well.

Dan B · Post by **Dan B** » 24 Aug 2014, 16:37

3rd: Lotus: Grosjean is nowhere due to an incident with Bianchi and what even happened to Maldonado? We know the car is crap but surely we could've seen the cars around 12th or 13th, no? Heck, they were even outperformed by Sauber.

2nd: Kevin Magnussen: He was doing fine until the battle with Alonso where he ran the Spaniard off the track, and then nearly caused a 4 car accident. The penalty was completely justified and as far as incidents go what he did was worse than Rosberg's incident at the beginning of the race. Speaking of that though...

1st: Mercedes: What started as a racing incident snowballed into a needlessly big situation. The incident between the two drivers at the beginning was just a racing incident. Both Rosberg and Hamilton were clumsy and of course that was going to happen; heck, a collision between the two would've happened this year anyway. It was to be expected. What bothers me though is what it devolved into: Hamilton whinging that he couldn't continue on, then the top brass at Mercedes throwing Rosberg under the bus, and now Hamilton and the social media lambasting him. They are making a mountain out of a molehill.

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 24 Aug 2014, 16:38

Barbazza wrote:Also normal these days is Lewis whinging on and on about his lot. This 'woe is me' nonsense is getting beyond a joke (and shame on most of the Sky F1 lot for going overboard on it).

Its not just Sky you know, the BBC also rambled on about the Mercedes incident for too damn long!!! It was like, 20 minutes before they finally chatted about Ricciardo's win. Then the "pundits" started arguing and I was just waiting for them to move on, BBC suck.

fbjim · Post by **fbjim** » 24 Aug 2014, 16:40

GwilymJJames wrote:Lewis has alleged that Nico has admitted to deliberately causing the accident. If true, I nominate Nico Rosberg. If not, I nominate Lewis Hamilton

As happens with Twitter, this is apparently not quite true- Nico said he refused to back out to prove a point, which is something different entirely.

noiceinmydrink · Post by **noiceinmydrink** » 24 Aug 2014, 16:41

You know what, I'm going to change my mind and nominate the entire Mercedes GP team, including Hamilton and Rosberg for reasons explained in the GP thread.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 24 Aug 2014, 16:43

good_Ralf wrote:Its not just Sky you know, the BBC also rambled on about the Mercedes incident for too damn long!!! It was like, 20 minutes before they finally chatted about Ricciardo's win. Then the "pundits" started arguing and I was just waiting for them to move on, BBC suck.

That doesn't surprise me. It was similar on Sky - they eventually got around to chatting about Ricciardo!

Eddie got muted on my TV when he turned up on the podium, I just KNEW it would be his turn...

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 24 Aug 2014, 16:48

1 - Anybody who boo'd Rosberg for the same reasons I gave each time Vettel was boo'd. Idiots.
2 - Maldonado. Stop it. It's not funny anymore.

Post by **Londoner** » 24 Aug 2014, 16:52

CoopsII wrote:2 - Maldonado. Stop it. It's not funny anymore.

I don't see how an engine failure is his fault, unless you're going on about his prang in free practice...

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 24 Aug 2014, 17:01

Mexicola wrote:You know what, I'm going to change my mind and nominate the entire Mercedes GP team, including Hamilton and Rosberg for reasons explained in the GP thread.

I'm gonna do likewise.

East Londoner wrote:
CoopsII wrote:2 - Maldonado. Stop it. It's not funny anymore.

I don't see how an engine failure is his fault, unless you're going on about his prang in free practice...

He apparently caused Bianchi's puncture. I say apparently because the damn race director didn't think it was worthy of being shown.

Dan B · Post by **Dan B** » 24 Aug 2014, 17:10

Salamander wrote:He apparently caused Bianchi's puncture. I say apparently because the damn race director didn't think it was worthy of being shown.

I thought that was Grosjean, but I wouldn't know since the race director doesn't focus on anything past 10th place!

andrew2209 · Post by **andrew2209** » 24 Aug 2014, 17:27

Dan B wrote:
Salamander wrote:He apparently caused Bianchi's puncture. I say apparently because the damn race director didn't think it was worthy of being shown.

I thought that was Grosjean, but I wouldn't know since the race director doesn't focus on anything past 10th place!

Grosjean pitted on Lap 1 as well, for what I think was a front-wing change

Pacifics only fan · Post by **Pacifics only fan** » 24 Aug 2014, 17:49

Missed the post race presentations, so I can't comment on the booing, so my nominee is:

Lotus. Got split by a Marussia in quali, then a double retirement in the race. Even if you add up the race milage for both cars, you're still 10 laps short of a full race distance. Eric Boullier must be happy he jumped ship..

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 24 Aug 2014, 17:52

East Londoner wrote:
CoopsII wrote:2 - Maldonado. Stop it. It's not funny anymore.

I don't see how an engine failure is his fault, unless you're going on about his prang in free practice...

That and I think he punted Bianchi. HOW VERY DARE HE!?!?!

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 24 Aug 2014, 18:39

East Londoner wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi when Hamilton was dominant in Spain wrote:Can't see Hamilton being beaten this weekend. When does Winter start again?

Hang on, you weren't saying this when Vettel was winning everything in sight last year. What's the change in heart about?

Do you now see why I don't want Lewis Hamilton to win this world championship? As much as the Vettel years were dull at least he never compared himself to Schumacher every 5 minutes and always thanked the team. As you said the Lewis fan club were ripping into Rosberg today and that's the problem. They type like they only started watching F1 in 2007 when he joined.

I've tried arguing with them non-stop to at least slap some perspective into them but no they've just shot me down in flames claiming that all us seasoned fans have to support Hamilton due to his so called "Greatness". I told you about what a fanboy accused me of after Bahrain right? Sums them up. I think it was extremely harsh for Vettel to get booed last season because multi 21 aside he just did what he was there to do all season but Hamilton just gives us ammo to fire at him every single race.

Speaking of Vettel why is he still getting nominations for ROTR for EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING that goes wrong for him? His struggles to overtake faster cars in Canada and Britain why? It's hard for anyone to overtake so why does Vettel get a nomination for at least you know actually having a go to pass someone? OK his mistake today gave some reason to nominate him but getting outclassed all season? He's just had a lot of bad luck and thus not been able to have a more fair comparison in races because in qualifying what was a comfortable 5-1 lead after Monaco has shrunk to a tight 7-5 battle still in Ricky's favor.

However results are what matter and if you haven't got them which Ricky has then your a big target for your critics (cough pepper cough)

Anyway my ROTR nominations are Felipe Massa for being more anonymous than Nick Heidfeld, Hamilton for his moany pathetic attitude, The Crowd for booing Rosberg over a racing incident and the TV Director because I got only a glimp of the Tyre Debris

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 24 Aug 2014, 18:43

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Speaking of Vettel why is he still getting nominations for ROTR for EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING that goes wrong for him? His struggles to overtake faster cars in Canada and Britain why? It's hard for anyone to overtake so why does Vettel get a nomination for at least you know actually having a go to pass someone? OK his mistake today gave some reason to nominate him but getting outclassed all season? He's just had a lot of bad luck and thus not been able to have a more fair comparison in races because in qualifying what was a comfortable 5-1 lead after Monaco has shrunk to a tight 7-5 battle still in Ricky's favor.

However results are what matter and if you haven't got them which Ricky has then your a big target for your critics (cough pepper cough)

Vettel was 52 seconds behind Ricciardo at the end of the race. I think Vettel has been on the wrong side of a lot of bad luck this year, but I struggle to see how he just lost nearly a whole minute.

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 24 Aug 2014, 18:51

Salamander wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Speaking of Vettel why is he still getting nominations for ROTR for EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING that goes wrong for him? His struggles to overtake faster cars in Canada and Britain why? It's hard for anyone to overtake so why does Vettel get a nomination for at least you know actually having a go to pass someone? OK his mistake today gave some reason to nominate him but getting outclassed all season? He's just had a lot of bad luck and thus not been able to have a more fair comparison in races because in qualifying what was a comfortable 5-1 lead after Monaco has shrunk to a tight 7-5 battle still in Ricky's favor.

However results are what matter and if you haven't got them which Ricky has then your a big target for your critics (cough pepper cough)

Vettel was 52 seconds behind Ricciardo at the end of the race. I think Vettel has been on the wrong side of a lot of bad luck this year, but I struggle to see how he just lost nearly a whole minute.

I did read somewhere that Ricciardo repeated his Britain trick of pitting 1 time less so that would explain 20 seconds of it and Vettel would have lost about 10 in the late race battle but yeah 20 seconds is surprising

Normal32 · Post by **Normal32** » 24 Aug 2014, 19:06

1.Booing
2.Vettel
3.Ericsson

others:
Massa

SgtPepper · Post by **SgtPepper** » 24 Aug 2014, 19:08

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:
East Londoner wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi when Hamilton was dominant in Spain wrote:Can't see Hamilton being beaten this weekend. When does Winter start again?

Hang on, you weren't saying this when Vettel was winning everything in sight last year. What's the change in heart about?

Do you now see why I don't want Lewis Hamilton to win this world championship? As much as the Vettel years were dull at least he never compared himself to Schumacher every 5 minutes and always thanked the team. As you said the Lewis fan club were ripping into Rosberg today and that's the problem. They type like they only started watching F1 in 2007 when he joined.

I've tried arguing with them non-stop to at least slap some perspective into them but no they've just shot me down in flames claiming that all us seasoned fans have to support Hamilton due to his so called "Greatness". I told you about what a fanboy accused me of after Bahrain right? Sums them up. I think it was extremely harsh for Vettel to get booed last season because multi 21 aside he just did what he was there to do all season but Hamilton just gives us ammo to fire at him every single race.

Speaking of Vettel why is he still getting nominations for ROTR for EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING that goes wrong for him? His struggles to overtake faster cars in Canada and Britain why? It's hard for anyone to overtake so why does Vettel get a nomination for at least you know actually having a go to pass someone? OK his mistake today gave some reason to nominate him but getting outclassed all season? He's just had a lot of bad luck and thus not been able to have a more fair comparison in races because in qualifying what was a comfortable 5-1 lead after Monaco has shrunk to a tight 7-5 battle still in Ricky's favor.

However results are what matter and if you haven't got them which Ricky has then your a big target for your critics (cough pepper cough)

Anyway my ROTR nominations are Felipe Massa for being more anonymous than Nick Heidfeld, Hamilton for his moany pathetic attitude, The Crowd for booing Rosberg over a racing incident and the TV Director because I got only a glimp of the Tyre Debris

Freezy you need to chill your boots, Hamilton being extremely unlikeable doesn't make Vettel's behaviour last year any less unpleasant, and I don't really understand why you seem so wound up. I'm really, really not a Hamilton fan, but I wouldn't mind him winning the championship because he's also clearly an excellent driver. In terms of Vettel's performance against Ricky, I think the results speak for themselves.

In regards to Massa, he had a peice of debri stuck in his car, which accounts for his poor result.

Vassago · Post by **Vassago** » 24 Aug 2014, 19:12

1. Mercedes - It's not even close. This season has a Suzuka 1989-like finish written all over it. Whoever will be ahead on points before Dubai will just wipe the other guy out. And so much for the double points shambles being a factor in the title race! :lol:

Mark my words!

2. Lotus - Maldonado had a Deletraz-like "breaking down early in race" moment while Grosjean seems to be pushing Vergne for the DNF king award this season.

3. Ericsson - made Lotterer look like the second coming of Schumacher.. Ok, perhaps even Bellof :mrgreen:

Ducktanian · Post by **Ducktanian** » 24 Aug 2014, 19:37

Mercedes - For the first time this season, Mercedes look like they might legitimately lose the WDC, even though they have the faster car. Not only can they not keep their drivers under control, but they are making things worse.

Lotus' failures aren't really a surprise anymore

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 24 Aug 2014, 19:55

Felipe Massa. Any more races like that, and he shouldn't be allowed to see out the season. Hopeless, an embarrassment to himself and the team. End of story.

DonTirri · Post by **DonTirri** » 24 Aug 2014, 20:09

I'm going to nominate Liewis Whinelton(Funny how he has re-earned that nickname). Not only does he literally throw his hands in the air and not even try after facing the possiblity of a burn from the stern, but he also spends the ENTIRE GODDAMN RACE whining and complaining on the radio. THEN he outright claims Nico collided at him on purpose... Jesus bathplug man, look in a mirror once in a while? Honorable mentions go to EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN WHINELTON-FAN WHO STARTED CRUCIFYING NICO ROSBERG AND GODDAMN BOOED ON THE PODIUM.

I said this already back in 2008. If Whinelton never wins another championship, it'll be too soon. Yes, he's fast. But he lacks something ALL great drivers have had. The balls to survive adversity. Only World Champs who have resorted to whining every time something went wrong are those who never deserved it in the first place. I'm looking at you Nigel Mansell and Jacques Villeneuve. Personally, and I am going to get flak for this, I think the sport would be WAAAAAAY BETTER OFF if Whinelton just sulked out of the goddamn sport. We don't need bathplug like him here.

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 24 Aug 2014, 20:19

Lewisteria is back in a big bad way. ROTR should be it's only reward.

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 24 Aug 2014, 20:28

Massa had debris in his car, after removed he was the fastest car on the track. I'll nominate the Ferrari mechanics for the Alonso thing.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 24 Aug 2014, 20:43

3. Vettel
This is the first time this year he's look genuinely poor. The car wasn't the issue for once, he hadn't suffered bad luck, he was just really so-so at the wheel today. A 6th place (on the road) while your team-mate wins, despite qualifying ahead of him, is a poor showing by anyone's standards. We don't expect such a so-so performance from a four time world champion especially.

2. Lotus
Even by their standards, utterly dismal. Maldonado's car wasn't alive long enough for him to make a mistake, and Grosjean tangled with Bianchi. The fact he's getting into alteractions with Marussias shows how slow they were. And then eventually his car gave up, while running with the Caterhams.

1. Mercedes
Cliched choice I know, but talk about self-destruction. The whole Hamilton-Rosberg issue is a storm in a teacup, and the worst part is the team were the ones that perpetuated it. They scapegoated one driver, allowed the other to spout sensationalist nonsense to the media, they're just making everything worse for themselves.

LukeB · Post by **LukeB** » 24 Aug 2014, 20:44

I changed my mind. Whinelton? Seriously? What are we, 12?

-
Actually that's unfair (well not about Whinelton being a dumb name), but you're taking a man that can will and is making a total pillock of himself yet again and acting like he ran over your dog. Ironically that's how some Hamilton fans are reacting to Rosburg being involved in what in the end was a racing incident...

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 24 Aug 2014, 20:46

DonTirri wrote:EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN WHINELTON-FAN WHO STARTED CRUCIFYING NICO ROSBERG AND GODDAMN BOOED ON THE PODIUM.

I agree. I've read through so many Facebook comments and I'm absolutely appalled by the number of anti-Rosberg comments claming he should be banned from the sport and he's a cheat basically. I wouldn't even bother arguing with them because they'll just shoot you down in flames

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 24 Aug 2014, 21:10

Whinelton? Seriously? How old are you, eleven? God almighty, some people need to grow up and remember it's just a sport at the end of the day.

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 24 Aug 2014, 21:20

If that incident had been between two drivers from different teams, I doubt anyone would have hardly raised an eyebrow!

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 24 Aug 2014, 21:43

I can't believe that Magnussen was handed a penalty for defending position against Alonso who was trying to go round the outside. Stupid decision by the stewards.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 24 Aug 2014, 21:44

Backmarker wrote:I can't believe that Magnussen was handed a penalty for defending position against Alonso who was trying to go round the outside. Stupid decision by the stewards.

He wasn't. He was handed a penalty for pushing him on to the grass.

tzerof1 · Post by **tzerof1** » 24 Aug 2014, 23:37

ROTR: Mercedes management: In my view, the incident itself isn't as huge of a deal as it's being made to be. There was always a chance it would happen, and it could have been a lot worse. As it was, both cars could have finished the race, and Rosberg got on the podium.

The atrocious response to the incident by Mercedes management is the real issue here. They apparently failed to learn what not to do from Red Bull's Istanbul 2010 fracas. Up until now, Mercedes has been doing fairly well with at least appearing to take a neutral stance on the escalating nature of the intra-team battle. However, that should not be cause for them to not have prepared a contingency plan for this exact sort of situation. And it would be extremely prudent to do so, given there's Lewis Hamilton in the team(more expansion on that point later) and just the general aforementioned recent precedent for the wrong way to handle such a situation.

A good contingency plan, would consist of only having one representative of the team give one statement until after the post-race intra-team debrief. A simple "The team wishes to not express any view on the incident until we have completed our post-race debrief." can go a long way toward saving face for all involved, and at least allow the team to claim the closest thing to a high ground there can be. Applied to today's situation, Mercedes should have kept a muzzle on Hamilton, important not just in the general workings of the contingency plan, but especially important because it's not a state secret that Hamilton has a tendency to say impetuous and regrettable things in front of the press when under adversity. And for Rosberg, at the end of the race, a simple "Remember, stiff upper lip, mate." or similar over the radio would be his stern reminder to not go against the plan. If the sharks that are the media don't get their chum as straight away as they like, that's how it is. The face the team save(and possibly even gain) is of greater importance.

Allowing everyone to speak at will without taking the time to go through the incident internally and collectively is what makes these things a lot worse than they really are. The team, by allowing this, have proceeded to make a complete mess of things, played exactly into the media feeding frenzy that happens after incidents like this, hung one of their own out to dry in the process, and rightly look like a bunch of arses.

More_Blue_Flags · Post by **More_Blue_Flags** » 24 Aug 2014, 23:51

Ferrari. For that nonsense with Alonso's car just before and during the start of the warmup lap. I really thought I was going to see somebody get killed.

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 25 Aug 2014, 00:04

No one moment sticks out to me so I'm going to make a nomination from the left field for pieces of tyre debris, for ruining the races of several drivers and doing a good job of trying to tickle Rosberg's face.

HawkAussie · Post by **HawkAussie** » 25 Aug 2014, 00:04

My nominations are

Marussia - Stop giving us fault hope ever again , or you will get ROTY with my vote
Lewis Hamilton - Being on the wrong end of the deal.

But my vote goes to Mercedes for completely being stupid

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 25 Aug 2014, 00:09

Lewis Hamilton -- Wanted to park the car 20 laps in. Really? This guy thinks he's Senna? That little turd is the poor man's Mansell. Sooner he leaves F1 the better.
Lewisteria -- The boo birds came out on the podium for a racing incident. Just like fans of Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, and Tony Stewart, the whining mirrors the driver they support.

LukeB · Post by **LukeB** » 25 Aug 2014, 00:18

takagi_for_the_win wrote:Whinelton? Seriously? How old are you, eleven? God almighty, some people need to grow up and remember it's just a sport at the end of the day.

I can't tell if you're mocking me or if we are of one mind

DonTirri · Post by **DonTirri** » 25 Aug 2014, 02:49

takagi_for_the_win wrote:Whinelton? Seriously? How old are you, eleven? God almighty, some people need to grow up and remember it's just a sport at the end of the day.

Well if the shoe fits...

DOSBoot · Post by **DOSBoot** » 25 Aug 2014, 03:51

Lot of candidates here, but there are the most obvious ones for me.

1. Mercedes: Let's face it. It was inevitable the two were going to collide with each other. But what I have seen was just a little 50/50 incident blown way out of proportion. If it costs the team in the future, then it's on their hands.

2. The Belgian Crowd: Eddie Jordan had more sense than these people.

Dishonorable Mentions:

Marussia: For duping Rossi, and being crap on race day.

Ferrari Pit Crew: Cost Alonso dearly.

Lewistera: Seriously, grow up people.

went · Post by **went** » 25 Aug 2014, 07:45

In light of Massa's issues, I'm changing my nomination to Mercedes and their popcorn antics. Really amusing to watch from the outisde but I'm not sure having your drivers and management punching each other live on TV is the way to go when you are trying to win a Championship of anything.