Your Reject of the Race - Italy

[Londoner]

1. The entire weekend. What an utter bathplug mess. Driving standards have been appalling in all three series, tons of penalties in every race, a near-fatality in F3 and the stupidity in Q3. Hardly anyone is coming out of here smelling of roses.

2. Sebastian Vettel. Time to retire, mate.

Honourable mentions to the TV director who was utterly hopeless, and Matteo Salvini just because I can.

[Psyclepath]

1. Vettel. Utterly awful performance, the best thing he did was overtake Hülkenberg. While Leclerc was battling Hamilton, he was battling with Russell in a Williams.

2. Q3. Would be my nomination, I don't like to choose pre-race things unless there's no standout Race Reject - this time we very much got one.

DHM:

McLaren pit crew - lost out on a potentially good result with Sainz, after Norris' misfortune in Spa the team didn't need this.

Stroll - did to Gasly exactly what Vettel did to him.

Raikkonen and Alfa Romeo - Raikkonen crashed out of Q3, never recovered. The penalty for being on the wrong tyres was silly, and the team should have known better.

Grosjean - Wrecked his race with a spin.

[rachel1990]

1- Sebastian Vettel Seriously what a stupid error that COULD have been a black flag for him. Ferrari cannot have him as the number one driver anymore. Shades of 2014 are coming into play here?

2Alfa Romeo What a stupid error with Kimi's tyres. How could they think that they could get away with it?

HM- Qualifying farce- Well it was. HM- Mclaren Pit Stop Crew. That mistake with Sainz's tire ruined any chance of decent points. HM- Haas. Every time they go backwards. Grosjean was Second LAST again. Last Italian GP for him I suspect.

[Pacific Edge]

1st: Vettel Getting a lot more of these nominations, than he would like, but he is earning them, and definitely did so today.

2nd: Qualy 3 A farce, and quite embarrassing considering that was the top end of F1.

3rd: The amount of penalties handed out. Even without the engine penalties, the amount of penalties the stewards had to hand out was quite high. Very scruffy stuff today.

Hon. mentions.

The TV director Decided to cut to some arb shots at times, when something was about to happen on track, and hashed the first showing the replay of Verstappen's incident, he showed everything EXCEPT what mattered.

Lady Luck That was just downright mean to Sainz and Kvyat

[Meatwad]

The only nomination I can think of is Vettel. Foolish and dangerous.

[Alextrax52]

1: Sebastian Vettel

He's got to buck it up big time next year now with the young mega talent Leclerc next to him. If he suffers another Ricciardo 2014 again then I think it's going to signal the beginning of the end of his time at the top

This is what I said about Vettel in the ROTY 2018 thread. I've defended the guy non stop since his mistake in Germany last year but it has been getting increasingly difficult with each passing mistake he makes. Today was the final straw for me. Not only does he bin it on his own (again) his attempted recovery has to go down as one of the daftest pieces of driving I've ever seen. He should no longer be Ferrari's number 1 and in all honesty he needs to retire because watching him these last 12 months has been nothing short of painful.

2: Q3: A perfect example of how "tactics" (and I use that term loosely) go so wrong. And it's been going on for some time on these tracks so give them one lap each and end this nonsense

HM'S
Lewis Hamilton: Wah!! Leclerc didn't roll over and let me through
Romain Grosjean: Is a spin really the sole reason why he only finished ahead of Kubica?
McLaren: Have needlessly let Renault get a sniff of 4th

[tc3j3r]

Sebastian Vettel a tad obvious perhaps, but sometimes the obvious choice is the right choice.

Dishonourable mention to the TV director. Cutting away from Vettel just as the Stroll collision was obviously about to happen, to show a pointless shot of the crowd. Directors have an irritating habit of cutting away from a battle/incident prematurely, while it's obviously not finished yet, to show unnecessary reaction shots, and as a result miss the next stage of the battle/incident (cf. Bottas v Hamilton at Silverstone). Plus the cutting away from the first attempt to show a Verstappen onbaord replay of the start, for no apparent reason.

[novitopoli]

1. The Q3 crapfest - which everyone saw coming but the teams themselves.
2. Haas - another ridiculous performance.

[Miguel98]

1. The entire weekend and everyone who rules F1 - You've created this. So MANY, so BLOODY MANY precedents of bad driving were open this weekend that I can't even.

2. Sebastian Vettel - Yeah, Seb, that was not it, and after what we've seen, trying to kill Stroll (who then tried to Gasly) wasn't any better.

HM for Stroll, to Haas and to Kvyat's car.

[WaffleCat]

1. The clever chap who placed a sausage kerb on the outside of Parabolica -- One of the trickiest turns on the calendar, a unique sweeping hairpin where it's common for cars to go wide in an attempt to pick up momentum for the main straight.

Let's put a sausage kerb there. Jesus. When would they learn to NOT put sausage kerbs at high speed areas or heavy braking zones?? Look at Heidfeld, Tereschenko, Floersch or even Barrichello 25 years back. Goodness sakes. I know it ain't F1, but literally the week after one of the worst accidents in recent memory, a massive safety oversight like this happens.

2. All of the field in Q3 -- lel

Honourable Mention: Sebastian Vettel -- I actually had to do a double take and remember this guy is a four-time champion. Acted like a complete Rosset (spelt both forwards and back) in that incident...

[Enforcer]

Vettel would've slam-dunked it any other weekend, but the Q3 farce was just too ridiculous.

That's the entire sport parading around the place with its arse hanging out of its trousers rather than just one driver.

[mario]

Sebastian Vettel a tad obvious perhaps, but sometimes the obvious choice is the right choice.

Dishonourable mention to the TV director. Cutting away from Vettel just as the Stroll collision was obviously about to happen, to show a pointless shot of the crowd. Directors have an irritating habit of cutting away from a battle incident prematurely, while it's obviously not finished yet, to show unnecessary reaction shots, and as a result miss the next stage of the battle/incident (cf. Bottas v Hamilton at Silverstone). Plus the cutting away from the first attempt to show a Verstappen onbaord replay of the start, for no apparent reason.

There were a few people wondering if the director might have chosen to cut away from that incident given that the sight of a car being stuck broadside on to fast oncoming traffic might have been rather reminiscent of Hubert's crash in Spa. I do agree that, in general though, the director this season has focussed on crowd shots quite frequently.

As others have noted, the Q3 farce is probably going to be right up there, though Vettel seemed to be doing his level best to claim the award with his moment of madness.

[Wallio]

For me it's an tie between:

The Stewards - For the love of God let them race. Notes, investigations, penalties. I got a crick in my neck from having to keep looking up to the top of the screen. And aside from obviously Seb, no one deserved anything. (With the possible second exception of Stroll). God almighty they are supposedly the best drivers on earth, let them sort it out.

Crofty and Brundle - We get it, you guys are paid Mercedes schills. But Between shitting on Charles all race for absolutely clean driving which you personally don't like (since it didn't let Lewis past) to lap after lap declaring Lewis and/or Bottas to be "taking the lead this lap" when they often weren't even in DRS range yet, to finally openly declaring the race won for BOTTAS when Lewis made his error, you guys are pathetic. Thankfully F1TV allows me to turn you off.

HM to the TV Director what in the bloody hell were you actually doing in the truck? Coke?

[CaptainGetz12]

1) Sebastian Vettel. Pretty rookie mistake. I got 2014 vibes from him this weekend. Expect the retirement rumors to start churning again after this race.

2) Mclaren's pit crew. Cost their team valuable points again by botching Sainz's pitstop.

(Dis)honourable Mentions:
Lance Stroll (Similar to Vettel, and Vettel put him in an awkward spot on track, but he could have given Gasly more space when he rejoined the track)

Qualifying (Not in the race, but was rather farcical)

Raikkonen's/Alfa Romeo Stretegists (Really? Forgot which tires to put on him at the start?)

[FullMetalJack]

Vettel - I don't know what he was thinking rejoining into Stroll
Q3 - Kimi Raikkonen crashed out and yet he may have come out of Q3 with the most credibility out of the ten drivers.

[RAK]

1) Sebastian Vettel: While his teammate stood on top of the podium, Vettel's weekend was one to forget from Saturday onwards. Dangerous driving that almost took out two other drivers added to his miserable running around outside the points.

2) Q3: One of the most farcical affairs ever in Formula One? Perhaps. It was hilarious to watch, but that doesn't make it any less rejectful.

[James1978]

I'm honestly 50:50 between Vettel and the Q3 fiasco. Though Vettel is making a case for RotY at this rate, was this the changing of the guard at Ferrari?

[Rob Dylan]

I'm astonished I've only heard one mention of his name, and it's a testament to just how shocking some folks were in Monza. But surely Kimi Räikkönen deserves a mention here. He crashed at least once, I think maybe twice during practice, then crashed twice in qualifying and went off for good. Then he was pretty poor during the race, if I'm not mistaken he left the track again today. He's not even to blame for the tyre incident at the beginning of the race, but geez he had an awful weekend.

[WeirdKerr]

Im gonna go for Vettel, how did this guy end up not getting shown the black flag …. oh wait we were in Italy, I reckon had he been in the Red Bull he would of been disqualified but one does not black flag the red cars at Monza

and the farce in Q3.... well that was just silly but not on the scale of USA 2005

[Klon]

If the Q3 Mess doesn't win the Reject of the Race award for this weekend, I request that it be renamed to something that doesn't have anything to do with F1 Rejects because too little people voting get the point of the old Reject of the Race.

[dj_vicious]

Wow I haven't posted here in years! Hi everyone, I've been lurking for too long.

1. Sebastian Vettel. I fear that 2020 is going to go like Hill's 1999. I don't think Seb is any worse a driver today, but the man is not mentally focused. Too many mistakes under pressure is putting a lot of black marks on his Ferrari tenure. It's time for a sabbatical, or retirement from F1.

2. DRS. We criticize drivers for defending aggressively, but what choice to they have? Even with the superior Ferrari power, Leclerc had no answer to Hamilton reeling him in. The DRS rules are precisely designed to the prejudice of the leading driver. If the DRS gimmick must stay, the FIA should investigate a limited number of deployments per driver, per race.

[CaptainGetz12]

Wow I haven't posted here in years! Hi everyone, I've been lurking for too long.

1. Sebastian Vettel. I fear that 2020 is going to go like Hill's 1999. I don't think Seb is any worse a driver today, but the man is not mentally focused. Too many mistakes under pressure is putting a lot of black marks on his Ferrari tenure. It's time for a sabbatical, or retirement from F1.

2. DRS. We criticize drivers for defending aggressively, but what choice to they have? Even with the superior Ferrari power, Leclerc had no answer to Hamilton reeling him in. The DRS rules are precisely designed to the prejudice of the leading driver. If the DRS gimmick must stay, the FIA should investigate a limited number of deployments per driver, per race.

So basically do Indycar's "Push-to-Pass" feature? This explains why the 2021 regulations plan to ditch DRS.

[dj_vicious]

Wow I haven't posted here in years! Hi everyone, I've been lurking for too long.

1. Sebastian Vettel. I fear that 2020 is going to go like Hill's 1999. I don't think Seb is any worse a driver today, but the man is not mentally focused. Too many mistakes under pressure is putting a lot of black marks on his Ferrari tenure. It's time for a sabbatical, or retirement from F1.

2. DRS. We criticize drivers for defending aggressively, but what choice to they have? Even with the superior Ferrari power, Leclerc had no answer to Hamilton reeling him in. The DRS rules are precisely designed to the prejudice of the leading driver. If the DRS gimmick must stay, the FIA should investigate a limited number of deployments per driver, per race.

So basically do Indycar's "Push-to-Pass" feature? This explains why the 2021 regulations plan to ditch DRS.

I actually think the P2P is a better interpretation because there's a pretty good strategy involved. Often lead drivers who have saved up their P2P can defend a late-race challenge. I just don't know how well it could work with current F1 engine regs. I am definitely a fan of ditching DRS altogether.

[CaptainGetz12]

Wow I haven't posted here in years! Hi everyone, I've been lurking for too long.

1. Sebastian Vettel. I fear that 2020 is going to go like Hill's 1999. I don't think Seb is any worse a driver today, but the man is not mentally focused. Too many mistakes under pressure is putting a lot of black marks on his Ferrari tenure. It's time for a sabbatical, or retirement from F1.

2. DRS. We criticize drivers for defending aggressively, but what choice to they have? Even with the superior Ferrari power, Leclerc had no answer to Hamilton reeling him in. The DRS rules are precisely designed to the prejudice of the leading driver. If the DRS gimmick must stay, the FIA should investigate a limited number of deployments per driver, per race.

So basically do Indycar's "Push-to-Pass" feature? This explains why the 2021 regulations plan to ditch DRS.

I actually think the P2P is a better interpretation because there's a pretty good strategy involved. Often lead drivers who have saved up their P2P can defend a late-race challenge. I just don't know how well it could work with current F1 engine regs. I am definitely a fan of ditching DRS altogether.

ERS is essentially this anyway, though it's kept in check by needing it to recharge after depleting it.

[UncreativeUsername37]

1. Sebastian Vettel. He made a mistake in a high-pressure situation, again, and then drove right into traffic. (The traffic he drove into then proceeded to be a hypocrite, but that's not the point.) Where has the normal odd-numbered year Vettel been?

2. the race direction. I know I complain about the race direction more than anyone else, but something was obviously happening and we got a crowd shot. And that wasn't the only race with a big issue. Whatever group or individual is responsible is only second because their nomination is ultimately Vettel's fault.

3. everything. Q3 (even though I did enjoy it), Leclerc for pushing Hamilton off, Hamilton for that lockup, Q3, Bottas for crumbling at a chance to shine again, Haas, how many penalties large and small there were (all deserved, by the way), Q3, McLaren, Hamilton for complaining about his straight-line speed when his team has had the best car for six years and usually by quite a lot, the first chicane still existing in this form after all these incident-packed years, and Q3.

This weekend has a lot of rejectful things about it considering how the races were all pretty good....

[yannicksamlad]

Vettel - for the re-join

F1 strategists - for Q3 . The warnings were there , they knew they could look silly and bring the sport into disrepute. And yet they failed to consider the bigger picture, or even apparently plan for what to do if other people were messing about .

I'll stick up for Stroll - sideways across part of the track on the exit of Ascari is a vulnerable place to be. Yellow flags should be out to slow oncoming cars, but you either jump out the car, or get the car out ( and reverse wasnt really an option for him ) . I dont even think he deserved a penalty , personally

[golic_2004]

1. Vettel What kind of rubbish rejoin was that, sir?

2. Stroll Calling Vettel and idiot for the rejoin, only to do the same thing seconds later.

[1993DonningtonNo1Mk2]

3. Driving Standards - The Q3 debacle, Vettel and Stroll, Leclerc's defending. What is going on here? Everyone seems to be turning into a bunch of Deletraz', Rossets, Inoues and Peases!
2. The stewards - I suspect they were biased because it was Ferrari's home GP.
1. Sebastian Vettel - Good grief! It's getting increasingly hard to believe this guy's a 4 time Champ! 2nd year in a row he's cocked up on Ferrari's home turf and rejoining in front of Stroll like that? That was idiotic to say the least though Stroll only did marginally better by not hitting Gasly. Leclerc now ahead by 2 Wins to none and in the WDC, he ain't Vettel's understudy anymore, he's doing a Ricciardo!

100th Post!

[Fetzie]

Sebastian Vettel. This series of serious errors has been going on for over a year now. I'm considering him a strong candidate for RotY. He rejoined the track without considering the possibility of somebody coming around the corner (despite knowing there were over a dozen cars following him) a week after a driver in F2 died from somebody t-boning them.

[mario]

3. Driving Standards - The Q3 debacle, Vettel and Stroll, Leclerc's defending. What is going on here? Everyone seems to be turning into a bunch of Deletraz', Rossets, Inoues and Peases!
2. The stewards - I suspect they were biased because it was Ferrari's home GP.
1. Sebastian Vettel - Good grief! It's getting increasingly hard to believe this guy's a 4 time Champ! 2nd year in a row he's cocked up on Ferrari's home turf and rejoining in front of Stroll like that? That was idiotic to say the least though Stroll only did marginally better by not hitting Gasly. Leclerc now ahead by 2 Wins to none and in the WDC, he ain't Vettel's understudy anymore, he's doing a Ricciardo!

100th Post!

With regards to the stewards, in Leclerc's post-race interviews, he stated that he thought some of his own moves were "right on the limit" of what was allowable. However, he then mentioned that, after the Austrian GP, having seen what Verstappen was being allowed to do in terms of on track aggression, he decided that if Verstappen was being allowed to get away with more questionable moves on track, then so could he.

[1993DonningtonNo1Mk2]

3. Driving Standards - The Q3 debacle, Vettel and Stroll, Leclerc's defending. What is going on here? Everyone seems to be turning into a bunch of Deletraz', Rossets, Inoues and Peases!
2. The stewards - I suspect they were biased because it was Ferrari's home GP.
1. Sebastian Vettel - Good grief! It's getting increasingly hard to believe this guy's a 4 time Champ! 2nd year in a row he's cocked up on Ferrari's home turf and rejoining in front of Stroll like that? That was idiotic to say the least though Stroll only did marginally better by not hitting Gasly. Leclerc now ahead by 2 Wins to none and in the WDC, he ain't Vettel's understudy anymore, he's doing a Ricciardo!

100th Post!

With regards to the stewards, in Leclerc's post-race interviews, he stated that he thought some of his own moves were "right on the limit" of what was allowable. However, he then mentioned that, after the Austrian GP, having seen what Verstappen was being allowed to do in terms of on track aggression, he decided that if Verstappen was being allowed to get away with more questionable moves on track, then so could he.

Well it wasn't just Leclerc, I thought most of the decision-making was dodgy, the one exception being penalising Vettel.

[Samster]

Can't look past the Q3 farce for the reject award despite many contenders.

Mention to Lance Stroll for getting taken out by Vettel rejoining unsafely only to do the same thing to Gasly mere seconds later. Pure reject material there.

[Faustus]

Between Vettel and Grosjean.

[Rob Dylan]

Ok you guys were pretty passionate this weekend, which is what I like to see! So I've given a special option for those of you who weren't concentrating on a specific thing that was rejectful for this weekend. You have 48 hours to get your votes in

[mario]

Ok you guys were pretty passionate this weekend, which is what I like to see! So I've given a special option for those of you who weren't concentrating on a specific thing that was rejectful for this weekend. You have 48 hours to get your votes in

I was half tempted to add Masi managing to make the stewarding of the races even more opaque with the use of the black and white flag, as his comments after the race just add to the confusion over what the black and white flag is meant to mean.

After the Italian GP, Masi was talking to the press about the black and white flag and confirmed that the power to issue the black and white flag lies with the race director. However, the power to issue penalties lies with the stewards - so, if Masi issues a black and white flag during the race, the stewards have no obligation to follow up on it: equally, they could choose to impose their own penalty separately to the black and white flag.

The way that Masi is talking about using the black and white flag just seems to be confusing the management of the races, as it is effectively disconnected from those who have the mechanisms to issue penalties.

[Rob Dylan]

In what was probably the biggest farce of the year (so far!), in a race full of many farces, the forum has decided that Q3 was the Reject of the Race! It really did show up the sport. In spite of all the individual issues drivers had, and their own specific rejectful episodes over the entire weekend, I think it's safe to say that what happened in Q3 - the very top teams at the front, unable to get across the line in time to set a time because they were too busy looking at their multitude of strategies and simulations to realise the lights had turned on. Carlos Sainz was the only one who did set a time, but he was just as guilty in terms of the shoving, the blocking, and everything else that prevented almost any of the top runners from setting their final, fastest qualifying time on Saturday. Slam-dunk Reject of the Race.