F1 2018 Season Awards

Wow, well Verstappen has the Idiot of the Year award... csn he be any more idiotic? The more that guy speaks thr more I realise that he is a brainless nut. Take a read of the below and tell me he doesnt deserve the idiot of the year award. Can you believe that incident is still burning him? Other driver will surely exploit that weakspot in 2019.

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Verstappen on Brazil: "Ocon yelled 'get the cameras' and 'push me!'"
28-12-2018 14:34


Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has revealed that Esteban Ocon was provoking him when they clashed in the paddock after the Brazilian Grand Prix, as the two had already collided on-track, costing Verstappen the win.



Ocon and Verstappen have a history that goes back before F1. The two battled a lot in the Formula 3 championship back in 2014 and were big rivals, often having contact and always scrapping.

Then, at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2018, the two clashed again. Ocon was trying to unlap himself on race leader Verstappen, which the Dutchman didn't expect. He left the Frenchman no room and they touched, spinning the Red Bull around and damaging his floor. Lewis Hamilton, who was in second place several seconds behind, took the opportunity to overtake Verstappen and take the win. Verstappen was absolutely furious with Ocon.

"Something like this happens often enough in other sports," the 21-year-old told AD when looking back on the incident, as he shoved Ocon in the paddock when he saw him.

"I think it's a bit strict," he referenced to his penalty for the shove, as he has to do community service for the FIA now.

"My reaction was calm, if anything. I didn't hit him.

"I wanted to know why he did what he did. Then he started to laugh at me. I found that an inappropriate reaction, because I lost the race because of him. When I shoved him out of disbelief, he immediately started yelling: 'get the cameras' and 'push me, push me'.

"I don't hold back, I don't care about the cameras."

Did anyone see Ocon push that nuAnd even if Ocon and laughed is that a reason for Max to assault him? Also, if Max calls his reaction quite calm, one wouldnt want to see him angry. In 2019 if he doesnt get hauled in especially driving with the Honda engine, he will really hurt somebody when he doesnt get the results he expects.

 

2018's Best Driver: Has to be Hamilton really doesn't it. Special mention to the Hulk for consistently being "best of the rest"
Worst Driver: Brendan Hartley, he seems like a really nice guy but just hasn't stood out to me at all. Was surprised by Vandoorne's poor results but against Alonso anyone bar a select few would look bad.
Luckiest Driver: LeClerc after the 1st corner shunt at Spa.
Unluckiest Driver: Bottas,he had some below par performances but didn't have the rub of the green at other times.
Best Rookie/New Driver: LeClerc surely? I'm really looking forward to seeing what he can do in 2019.

Best Team of the season: A big pat on the back to Force India/Racing Point to start and more importantly finish their season well despite Vijay Mallya's best efforts to sink his own ship.
Surprise Team: Has to be the Honda powered Torro Rosso. Also, I have to admit I didn't think Sauber would finish as well as they did.
Worst Team: McLaren, way to waste one of the best drivers of this generation. I'm not exactly the most positive person but surely next year can't be worse? Williams were obviously very poor but then we kind of expected that.
(Most difficult?) – Overtake of the Season!: Any of Ricciardo's

Surprise of the season: Vettel crashing out of the lead at his home GP for no apparent reason.
Most expected result: Verstappen's various immature outbursts
Funniest moment: The guy at the US GP who made all the car noises into a track side microphone.
Excuse of the season: See all the aforementioned sycophantic defending od Verstappen by Red Bull.

Special Mention: Kimi for rolling back the years with his win!

Season Rating: 7/10

 

haha, I'd forgotten about that.

 

Agree with pretty much all of this, but would perhaps controversially put Ferrari down as team of the year. Surprised no one else has. They delivered the best car (on average across the season, imo) and arguably should have taken the title after years of Merc domination.

 

Yes, QPR. I think you make a fair point.

I gave it to Mercedes because despite being on the back foot for much of the season, they hung on and worked very hard to overcome what was at times a clear deficit. Drivers are obviously a significant part of the team factor too – and there can be little doubt Vettel's performances were generally well below those of Hamilton, who more than compensated for Bottas.

 

Funny how different people can interpret the same question so differently. As the drivers have their own separate award, I had interpreted the team award as excluding the driver. In other words, which team put their driver in the best position to win, from a car, development and strategy perspective. I appreciate drivers are indeed core part of the overall team, but there is certainly something distinctive about them too. I wonder how others interpreted the question, and indeed if people would answer differently with my interpretation vs the one you put forward Cosi.

As an aside, I often read posts on this forum but rarely post. I look forward to hearing your thoughts after races Cosi, so thank you for sharing them and the associated effort

 

Yes, you make another good point here, QPR!
In fact, the question was raised long ago when we kicked-off the awards theme back in the early days of the forum.

I think most who post in the Awards threads recognise the driver as part of the team, but also that since drivers are the most visible individuals within – and very much at the focal point – they also get their own awards, just as they get separate trophies and their own Drivers' Championship. This is the case in almost all motorsport.
Another aspect is that most of the individual awards are based on the weekend as a whole, although obviously the race itself carries more weight than everything else, and qualifying is far more significant than what happens during practice sessions.

It's great that you've brought up the subject again though: it's all too easy for us to take it for granted that we all have the same mind-set about this – which is probably not the best way to encourage others to chip in! So, thanks. What do you think? Should we provide a short clarification in the opening post for these threads?

- - -o0o- - -​

P.S. I'm very pleased to hear you often have a look in here. Jump in to make your opinion felt! – You obviously think things through and I'm sure future contributions would be valued by all.

 

I couldn't put Ferrari as the best team for the opposite reason.

If they had the best car, then they should have at least won the WCC, even allowing for Hamilton's excellent driving in wrapping up the WDC.

Ferrari faltered mid-season with a development path that made the car worse, so they shot themselves in the foot, along with Vettel's questionable driving at times which led him into too many collisions with other drivers.

You could argue they were therefore the worst team, as they had the best car and threw away the titles? (okay, it was clearly Williams or McLaren who were both pants throughout the season but you get the point!)

 

Appreciate the point you make and can see the logic.

I guess it boils down to the discussion I was having with Cosi about whether the drivers should be included in the 'team' award category. If included, I would agree with your analogy. If not, I would stick with Ferrari as I do think Hamilton would have won in that car, and I also think Vettel would have won if he had performed to his best ability.

I think that including drivers in that award category skews it too far away from the broader team for that reason, but happy to go with the majority opinion.

If incorporating drivers, I think I'd put Haas down as my team of the year. Greatly improved, and solid, if not spectacular drivers. Grosjean not a favourite of mine to put it politely, but I thought he improved on previous years.

 

Ultimately, it's up to all of us as individuals as to how we decide upon our ratings. Your method does not need to be the same as anyone else's.
I can fully understand the logic behind trying to remove drivers from team awards. The reason most of us tend not to is because ultimately, the driver is an employee of the team; but it is up to us all as individuals to reach our own conclusions and make our own assessments by whatever criteria we decide individually.

Your thinking is refreshing. It gives a different perspective. And it is most certainly valid.

 

Ok. I now believe F1 officials deserve a special 2018 award. These guys are simply brilliant. This season why not sentence Max to two month of getting his bottom wiped by the stewards? Oh.....i forgot, they are doing that already.

Max Verstappen to 'observe stewards' at Formula E Marrakesh race as part of shoving punishment.
Max Verstappen was leading the Brazilian Grand Prix when he collided with backmarker Esteban Ocon on lap 44
Max Verstappen will serve part of his punishment for shoving Esteban Ocon "as an observer to the stewards" at Saturday's Formula E race in Marrakesh.

 

And it's such a nice morale-boost for the Formula E stewards... "To punish Max, we've said he has to spend 2 days with you guys".

Seems like it's the Formula E stewards who are being punished. I wonder what they did to deserve 2 days with Max. They must have been bang out of order.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/46846722

As others have surely said, he could try keeping his mouth shut for a start.

 

I think Cosi could put up a special awards for the officials... any hope they will improve this year?

 

It is, I gave it to Sauber because of where they were last year, to where they are now, and the budget they used to get there, and possibly because, in the end, Ericsson looked like an F1 driver. In truth the best team is always the one that walks away with the WCC, otherwise they wouldnt have won it.