Italian Grand Prix Awards

Best Driver:
Worst Driver:
Best Rookie/New Driver:
Best Team:
Surprise Team:
Worst Team:
Best Overtake:

Most Surprising Result:
Least Surprising Result:
Funniest moment:
Excuse of the week:

Special Mention:
Best post from the race thread:
Race Rating: ?/10

 

Best Driver: Ricciardo
Worst Driver: Verstappen. Magnet for other cars all race.
Best Rookie/New Driver: Ocon
Best Team: Mercedes, clearly!
Surprise Team: Williams
Worst Team: Sauber, miles off the pace
Best Overtake: Ricciardo, take your pick!

Most Surprising Result: Stroll
Least Surprising Result: Alonso retiring
Funniest moment: Alonso saying Karma against Palmer, then getting Karma on himself by retiring later as well!
Excuse of the week:

Special Mention: Stroll's qualifying.
Best post from the race thread:
Race Rating: ?/10[/QUOTE] 6, not much going on upfront.

 

Best Driver: Ricciardo. Wrung everything out of it really.
Worst Driver: Verstappen. Getting sick of him being to stupid to see a race is longer than a few laps and bashing anyone who dares front uo to him. He blew an absolutely brilliant start bashing massa
Best Rookie/New Driver: stroll. Not even lunatic ocon a thing.
Best Team: Mercedes, too easy
Surprise Team: Williams. I was shocked they had it in them.
Worst Team: mcclaren..
Best Overtake: Ricciardo. Serious pass done.

Most Surprising Result: how slow ferrari were ay hone
Least Surprising Result: mercedes at a fast track drive away
Funniest moment: not much tbh
Excuse of the week:

Special Mention: Stroll's qualifying.
Best post from the race thread:
Race Rating: ?/10[/QUOTE] 6. Started well but field strung out.

 

Best Driver: Hamilton by far

Worst Driver: Palmer got away (until Karma knocked on his door) with cutting the track to overtake. (Laughable the stewards waited until he was 5 secs down the road to give him a 5 sec penalty. Usually the are on the radio saying let him pass.)

Best Rookie/New Driver: Super Stroll
Best Team: Red Bull (shame about engine)
Surprise Team: Williams
Worst Team: STR
Best Overtake: Ricciardo

Most Surprising Result: Stroll front row
Least Surprising Result: Mercedes 1-2
Funniest moment: Karma
Excuse of the week: Karma

Special Mention: Verstappen getting a point. He has had some really bad luck this year.
Best post from the race thread:
Race Rating: 6.01/10

 

Best Driver: Ricciardo,
Worst Driver: Max, kept hitting people, how many penalties would Rosberg had to've served if he'd done that?
Best Rookie/New Driver: hard to say, both had great races.
Best Team: Mercedes
Surprise Team: Williams pace in the wet
Worst Team: Sauber
Best Overtake: Ricciardo's late brake

Most Surprising Result: Danny almost on the podium
Least Surprising Result: McLaren retirements
Funniest moment: Alonso's 20 lap whinge over Palmer
Excuse of the week:

Special Mention: Hamilton, Strollolololol, Ocon
Best post from the race thread:
Race Rating: 6.499/10 disappointing Ferrari pace, and the suspicion that team-orders are now in play at Merc, meant this wasn't the race it could've been, though it was saved from a procession by the mixed up grid.

 

He got the same penalty as others have for gaining an advantage. Don't think the stewards have used the 'let them past' rule to avoid a penalty for some time. To be fair, Alonso pushed him wide on 'racing line' rules so where else was he supposed to go?

I know you hate the guy but that is unfair.

 

I thought it was a bit ambitious of Palmer on those corners and even squeezed him on the inside kerb. It was a failed move but got away with it.

 

Palmer was ahead in to the braking zone, level at the first apex and Alonso then squeezed him wide.

Max was ambitious with his moves and used the other cars to help him round the corners!

It's certainly a possible fail for the stewards as it should have been to give the place back for Palmer and not a 5s penalty, but that's hardly Palmer's fault.


In Belguim, Alonso v Palmer was okay as no one went completely off the track to gain an advantage (Alonso just about had two wheels still on the track in the first part), but the Torro Rosso clearly then went outside the track lines to get a run on Palmer and no action taken. As ever, no consistency with the stewards.

 

Palmer may be on the racing line on entry but he has lost position. From a racing perspective I feel Palmer had at this point lost his place. Alonso effectively takes the racing line through the chicane so I'm unsure what Palmer is trying to achieve?

I know I bitch about it but the biggest mistake is inferring that drivers are entitled to space, they take advantage of this by just hanging round the outside because if the run offs.

 

So what about the Torro Rosso on Palmer at Belguim going around the outside and off the track to gain an advantage on the exit of the corner?

 

Oh I agree on the inconsistency and fairness. It's a joke.

 

If they went back to grass/gravel instead of extended tarmac run offs there would be no advantage at all and would stop all the nonsense. Go off track, it will slow you down!

 

100% agree

 

Wouldn't have to be a particular deep strip of gravel before the tarmac to remove any advantage of running wide.

What's weird is how at some corners, using the runoff is allowed and others not.

 

I have always maintained that getting rid of the gravel traps was a huge mistake IMHO .

The skill is in driving these amazing machines , but also keeping them ON the track , they won't change it though :-(

 

You rarely see cars spin off these days because of the huge grip levels, so all that is really needed is just maybe a few metres of grass/gravel to ensure drivers don't make over ambitious moves, knowing they have the safety net of a nice tarmac run off.

I also think it will improve the behaviour of drivers when it comes to the 'racing line' nonsense if they know that if they shove someone off then it is likely to happen back to them at some point. The old gentlemen's code of conduct for driving standards then may reappear.

 

We had those?

 

Yes, until Belgium 1995

 

The day F1 drivers stopped having full time mustaches is the day the gentleman driver died.

 

oh, the good old days, when they raced for the sheer pleasure of the race, rather than the glory. Didn't Moss basically give someone a championship because he thought they deserved to be champion more than him?