The Chilly Chinese Awards

Best Driver:
Worst Driver:
Best Rookie/Young Driver
Best Team:
Suprise 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: Max, great recovery he needs some waft!
Worst Driver: Giovinazzi and Stroll, but Kimi gets a mention awful performance and disadvantaged his team.
Best Rookie/Young Driver: Ocon
Best Team: FI
Suprise Team: Red Bull
Worst Team: Pound for Pound Ferrari for their strategy blunders, but McLaren aswell
Best Overtake: Seb on Danny

Most Surprising Result: Red Bull on the podium
Least Surprising Result: McLaren in general
Funniest moment: Alonso's self promotion
Excuse of the week: Non of note, but Kimi had a few to many!

Special Mention: Lewis for the win, Seb for the recovery and Alonso
Best post from the race thread:
Race Rating: 7.8/10

 

Best Driver: Max, simply 16th to 3rd in slippery conditions. Flawless.
Worst Driver: Gionvonazzi sadly, dumping the car twice over the weekend in the same place. Not good.
Best Rookie/Young Driver: Ocon, wise head on young shoulders.
Best Team: Redbull, made something out of nothing this weekend, well done.
Surprise Team: Redbull and Force India came alive today.
Worst Team: Mclaren and Renault, again.
Best Overtake: Verstappen on the outside of Raikkonen, Vettel twice, Perez, Grosjean. Some risky moves at turn 6.

Most Surprising Result: Max on the podium.
Least Surprising Result: Ham on the podium, Mclaren double retirement.
Funniest moment:
Excuse of the week: "No torque at turn 12" - Kimi very poor this weekend.

Special Mention: Magnussen came good with Haas today. Alonso is just a legend, the best of the rest behind Ferraris, Mercedes and RB at one point. Goodbye to the Chinese crowd? Something ominous.
Best post from the race thread:
Race Rating: 6/10

 

Best Driver: Vettel, Verstappen and Alonso
Worst Driver: Bottas and Raikkonen. One of them will cost their team the championship this year
Best Rookie/Young Driver Ocon
Best Team: Red Bull
Suprise Team: Force India
Worst Team: Williams
Best Overtake: Verstappen on Ricciardo.

Most Surprising Result: Alonso running in points again for most of the race
Least Surprising Result: Alonso retiring
Funniest moment: Alonso on Radio. Saying he is fastest in corners
Sorry mentioned him 4 times in this post
Excuse of the week:

Special Mention: Sainz. A great race not seen much.
Best post from the race thread:
Race Rating: 8/10 alot more overtaking just need top 2 action and overtaking put together to make great races

 

Sad for Alonso, genuinely I think we all share a portion of his pain right now. If Mclaren were performing we could have seen a three-way fight between the magician, the maestro and the legend.

 

Best Driver: Alonso, maybe Vettel, but definitely not Max, he made a driving mistake that cost his position and put Danny back in to play, overtaking **** cars is easy
Worst Driver: Gio, tsk, I imagine Wehrlein is now wearing the expression of someone whose job is safe.
Best Rookie/Young Driver, ?? The rookies went off, and Max is younger than Ocon, can I say Sainz?
Surprise Team: STR, great result from Sainz.
Worst Team: Williams, woeful.
Best Overtake: well, after last weeks dearth this week we got a veritable plethora. I'm saying the Perez double
through T1&2, an online special.
Most Surprising Result: RBR podium
Least Surprising Result: Alonso drives like a hero and the McHRT dies.
Funniest moment:
Excuse of the week: Kimi with torque problems.

Special Mention: Quite a few decent drives this week, I'll add some more names to the ones I've already mentioned:
Sainz had a great race but was completely ignored by the TV for some reason,
Hamilton did everything he needed to,
Magnusson kept his nose clean and got Haas some nice points.
Best post from the race thread:
Race Rating: 8/10 a great race with plenty of action if you ignored the lead. Plenty of overtaking, in and out of the DRS zones

 

Best Driver: Verstappen. Not perfect (he made an elementary late-braking error which, had he still been a rookie, would have been easily criticised along the lines of panic) but other than that, he stood out as the driver most prepared to (almost) throw caution to the wind; i.e he did so in a slightly risky, yet controlled manner. I think he overtook more cars than anyone else and is already threatening to show Ricciardo who's boss. His first lap of overtaking opportunism was pretty much as good as any I can remember.

Worst Driver: Giovinazzi. Räikkönen was not up to scratch but may have experienced various difficulties with a car which turned out to be faster than his ice-cream van. Bottas and others also under-performed. But Giovinazzi let the world know what rookies tend to do and his error was soooOO basic…
Best Rookie/Young Driver: Ocon. But Big Ern makes a good point (above). Due to age, Verstappen qualifies for this. Experience is more important than age. Age is only perceived as important because it implies experience.
Best Team: Proabably Force India.
Suprise Team: ?
Worst Team: McLaren. – But I wanted to say Honda! To be in this situation in the third year, with all the resources McLaren and Honda have at their disposal, is difficult to excuse. However… They have indeed persevered alone, and done so from an already disadvantageous point of entry, well behind all other Power Unit suppliers who had a significant head start and kinder (to them) regulations. Honda have no second team to double their mileage, to double their testing, to double their innovation and to double their thinking capacity at the sharp end – never mind a third or fourth team also running their engines… But I go back to my first sentence: the current situation is inexcusable from any angle.

Best Overtake: Verstappen v Ricciardo was perhaps the most significant, not least because it was an inter-team battle which may come to haunt the victim. Others were worthy of note; especially Vettel (although not for the move on Verstappen) but I'd also throw Grosjean in for this because a couple of his moves were exceptional. In a fantasy world, I'd love to see Verstappen, Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso in the same car. As things stand at this moment in history, as if such a ridiculous notion could actually occur, I'll probably upset some with this ordering: 1HAM. 2VET. 3VER. 4ALO. Yes, I'd respect some subtle reordering by others – I'd love to see other opinions! – but in mine right now, these are the top four drivers in the world, in roughly this order! P.S. I don't want to confess I've already reordered them and need to click 'Post Reply' before doing so again!!


Most Surprising Result: Verstappen. 3rd from 16th when it looks clear that Ferrari and Mercedes have a better car? That's impressive, even by Big Ern's standards!!

Least Surprising Result: Sadly, McLaren's lack of pace and retirements.
Funniest moment: Alonso "fastest in the corners!". Less funny was Verstappen's clever political commentary to his team, and by implication, Charlie Whiting: demanding a car a long way ahead should slow down to let him pass. I don't like that; it was unnecessary and, in my opinion, wrong – but it's the way of the world when radio chatter becomes part of the game…
Excuse of the week: I think Räikkönen genuinely had problems but part of me wonders if he was laying it on a bit thick…

Special Mention: Hamilton. He should not be overlooked here. The Pole-lap was scintillating. That car is second best at the moment, albeit by a smallish margin. What he did in Q3 was an eye-opener up and down the paddock.
Best post from the race thread: I confess, I've not read it. Apologies.
Race Rating: 7.83/10

 

I think a special mention should go to Carlos Sainz, he impressed me this weekend. If he carries on I wouldn't be surprised if a top team took a chance on him at the end of the season.

 

He was less than an inch away from stuffing his car into the wall though, can consider himself lucky to have got away with the hit that he did.

 

Best Driver: Max, another mature drive with some solid and decisive overtakes. Pushing so hard he can be forgiven one late brake.
Worst Driver: Gionvonazzi for his weekend in general, Aus was definitely a case of beginners luck! Bottas was dreadful in the race too, you don't spin under the safety car!
Best Rookie/Young Driver: Ocon, getting the job done well.
Best Team: No team really stood out, RBR probably did best out of all teams to split the Mercs and Ferraris.
Surprise Team: STR for allowing Sainz to start on slciks! Worked out in the end but he very nearly made himself look stupid at turn 2.
Worst Team: Mclaren and Renault, again. Hulk impressed in qualifying but the teams were dire in the race. Alonso did well until his car failed him, but hard to know how much of that was genuine speed or just being out of position whilst the safety car/pitstops sorted themselves out.
Best Overtake: Perez double overtake was good, Max's dive on Ricciardo was brave and decisive.

Most Surprising Result: Max on the podium.
Least Surprising Result: Mclaren double retirement.
Funniest moment: Kimi making up excuses.
Excuse of the week: see above

Special Mention: Magnussen put in a good weekend, Sainz with his brave choice and Hamilton for a lights to flag victory
Best post from the race thread:
Race Rating: 7/10. Some good fights down the field and Hamilton was kept honest enough by Vettel that he couldn't cruise to victory.

 

Ricciardo seems to be losing to Verstappen. I think Sainz is better and is almost as criminal as Alonso not being in a top car.

 

About time, we can predict him and Perez being promoted as soon as next season. Don't know where though...

 

It sounded a bit paranoid like he thought the team were dragging him back to get Vettel ahead. Maybe they did but his DRS was visibly lagging to everyone else.

I did find it ironic though for somebody who doesnt talk much to moan about Torque Maybe he was having a moment

 

Perez deserves another chance at a top team. His time at McLaren coincided with the period they were on the decline and you never got the feeling he was ever comfortable there.

Problem is, there are only 6 cars worth getting into, everything else is either a step sideways or backwards.

 

Best Driver: Sainz - Very quietly got on with being awesome, got his car into a position it had no rights to be in and kept it there. His pace wasn't that far off the Red Bulls
Worst Driver: I could go for Gio but he at least has inexperience and lack of practice. Kimi on the other hand... awful, just awful
Best Rookie/Young Driver: Ocon went about his work well, and kept the also impressive Perez honest
Best Team: Red Bull punched above their weight... which sounds very odd to say!
Surprise Team: Williams because....
Worst Team: They were plain awful for no apparent reason.
Best Overtake: A few to name which is a very good sign in itself, but for me I've got to say Vettel, for getting the job done when needed, first on Kimi then Dani. Also mustn't forget Perez's double overtake in the damp

Most Surprising Result: Verstappen, ignoring his awful starting position he did very well to get that podium.
Least Surprising Result: Vettel putting Kimi to shame
Funniest moment: Bottas losing it twice behind the safety car? Any time Alonso was on the radio? Nico or Bottas?
Excuse of the week: Kimi...

Special Mention: Perez, Vettel, Verstappen, Hamilton, Alonso, Magnussen. A field of good drives
Best post from the race thread: Anything I said, obviously
Race Rating: 8.5/10 - Very enjoyable, liked the number on non-DRS overtakes as well.

 

Yes, I agree Sainz was worth a more than a mention. Somehow he stayed under the radar when I filled out the form!

 

I don't quite get why we're all raving about his drive, bearing in mind he spun twice and hit the wall!

Maybe luckiest driver in the race? Brave for starting on slicks and in the end it worked thanks to the safety car when everyone else pitted, but he barely made it past lap 6!

After that he drove very well, but when people are saying DoD is not Max because he had one lock up....................

 

In my eyes Max is getting DoD despite spinning and losing a position because he overtook a load of ****-slow cars that ended up over a lap down, and is a media darling. Yes, his move on Ricciardo was quality, but Vettel did exactly the same to his team-mate at the same place, then risked the marbles to go around the outside of Danny at the same place, and when he put pressure on Verstappen, Max ****ed up and he took him as well. Sebs only mistake was not knowing Giovanazzi was gonna dump it when the VSC ended, and Hamilton didn't make any that I could see.

I enjoyed Vettels move on Danny the most, not because of who it was, or because we had a little wheel-wheel contact which always looks good (when no one crashes because of it), but because the horrible 'marbling' we've seen over the last few years that stopped drivers attempting it, is nowhere near as bad. I didn't see any of the rubber bricks, and that's gotta give a bit more confidence in trying to go around the outside.

 

Calm down dear. My point was about people raving about Sainz who screwed up even worse and got away with it.

Didn't ask for a rant about Max, who is the new Lewis for you......... so far as I can see I have not said anything about Vettel not deserving people's nominations, I just can't see why Sainz is being put forward.

 

I dunno where the rant is, I'm was just outlining my reasoning as to why I didn't think Max was worthy of the DoD, I didn't give it to Sainz, Hamilton or Seb either, as imo none of their in race achievements could compare to Alonso getting the clown car into solid points.
As to Max, I can't say I'm particularly fond of him, he's a weaver and a blocker that makes dangerous late defensive moves