The F1 Awards by TGWDS

The Formula 1 season draws to a close, and it seems appropriate that I dish out the awards of who I think have done well, terrible, bitched and moan, and have been a real inspiration.

Best Driver - Esteban Ocon

Ocon has really lit up the grid with a storm this season, a lot of critics may have said that it should have been Wherlein in the Force India seat, but he quickly put them to silence with his performance this year. Finishing in the points in all bar two races and finished every race bar one. Sure he’s had a few scraps and coming together with his own teammate, but when push comes to shove, he delivered.

Worst Driver - Marcus Ericsson

On the other end of the scale, we have the only driver who started the whole season, and not score a single point. For two seasons in a row, Marcus Ericsson has failed to score point. Lets be honest, if it wasn’t for the fact that his sponsors practically own Sauber, he’d have been out quicker than a rattled Raccoon out of a bin. It doesn’t help that he was also out-qualified by a driver whose first go in the current gen of F1 cars was in Q1. Lets just say as far as money goes, this tractor is gonna be with us for a while.

Rookie of the Year - Lance Stroll

Lets be honest, an 18 year old who bought himself into a high mid pack team could go one of two ways: Destructive and painful to watch, or smoothly and mature. Fortunately for Lance it was a 20:80 split. The first 3 races where quite dismal to say the least, but he slowly got to grips and was putting in some good results, the highlight being a 3rd place in Azerbaijan, and an impressive P2 qualifying result in a rain soaked Monza. He’s also given Massa a run for his money too, which wasn’t really heard either seeing as he’s getting a bit long in the tooth, but whoever he partners up with next year, lets hope he can keep the good form he’s had this year.

One Hit Wonder - Paul DI Resta

This season saw some drivers fill in for other drivers, whether it was illness, injuries, or because your boss is a complete and total melon. My choice went out to Paul Di Resta, why you may ask? Well simply, think of the last driver to have gone from the commentary box to an F1 car that they’ve never driven before because one driver took ill? So he qualified on the back row, and he spent the race at the back, but considering that the man never stepped foot into a current gen car and outqualified a driver who has driven a current gen car (which in all fairness, a drunken, drugged up baboon could probably do) and still set some relatively decent lap times in the race. In my honest opinion, I think it would be a real shame if Di Resta didn’t get the Williams seat, the guy has potential to do really well in the car given some more time in it. But who knows eh?

Bad Luck Brian Award - Daniil Kvyat

It’s the treatment of this one driver, not only warrants him to be in this list, but also lists the reason why I dislike the way Red Bull handles their drivers. See demoting Kvyat last season after one, maybe two incidents to bring in Verstappen did not do him much justice, watching him slump further into obscurity was just painful, now a year on, we see him thrown to one side again but this time, for good. Some of you may disagree with me on this but from where I sit, it seems very hypocritical that they keep Verstappen in Red Bull, where this season we see him rag his cars around to breaking point and making some very dodgy moves on people, but is somehow still in his seat, yet Kvyat has a couple of mishaps at Red Bull and he’s given the boot. This guy needs a break, maybe away from F1 for a year. On the plus side, at least he’s getting some action from Nelson Piquets daughter, the lucky dog.

Growacet Award - Romain Grojean

Don’t you just hate it when you are with people, and you’re with the one person who just whinge and moans all the time like a Lil’ B*tch all the time, to the point you just want to get up and insert a coat hanger up their backside the wrong way round? I think its safe to say that this was Grojean all. Season. Long. I don’t think there was a weekend where “Groanjean” wasn’t moaning about drivers, brakes, the circuit, the weather, what other drivers do after a race. It was like constantly listening to The Smith on repeat all season. Lets just hope he’s all moaned out for next season.

Over the years, we’ve had some truly inspirational quotes from F1 drivers, “If you go for a gap that no longer exist, then you’re no longer a race driver” - Ayrton Senna. “If everything seems to be under control, you’re just not going fast enough” - Mario Andretti. “Once money becomes your motivation, you are immediately not as good as someone who is stimulated by passion and internal will” - Sebastian Vettel. But this year, boy did we get a number, so rather than just explain it, I’ll just show you the famous quote from the one K-Mag, take it away!

Best Team - Ferrari

It was really good to see them on level ground with the Mercedes this year, winning the first race of the season really shook a few feathers out of the Mercedes chicken coop. Now granted, they lost out with some reliability issues in the second half of the season, but when Mercedes tripped up, they took the advantage and usually in style. Vettel was on point with that car and Raikkonen, well, he did what his contract said and took home the paycheck, but next year, if Ferrari keep up the good work and Red Bull keep up in general, 2018 will be a very exciting year.

Worst Team - McLaren

Things were looking up for McLaren this season, the engine was looking to be a little more competitive, and the chassis was nothing short of epic. Unfortunately, the season deflated like a pin to Katie Price’s Bosom. with a total 16 retirements this season, it wasn’t until the Azerbaijani Grand Prix that both McLarens actually finished a race and Hungary for both to finish in the points. It’s incredibly sad to see a team like McLaren struggle at the back of the grid with the Saubers and Toro Rossos when they should be battling it out with Red Bull and Ferrari. Maybe with the Renault engines, it will be a happy ending.

Best race - Spanish Grand Prix

In my opinion, Spain hasn’t really produced many exciting nail biting races over the years, but this years one was something else. To me, this was the start of the titanic battle for the title that everyone wanted to see, this was Batman vs Superman, the Manchester Derby, El Clasico. It was the first we see Hamilton and Vettel fight it out not just out on track, but inside the garage as the strategy game was on, in the end we see these two fighting it out to the end in what was strategically brilliant race, and poor old Daniel Ricciardo was left over a minute behind in 3rd place

Snooze fest - Russian Grand Prix

And on the other hand, we have a track that has produced more interesting races than a Vegan convention. Sure it was Bottas maiden win for him, but who are we kidding. To quote a line from Monty Python “It’s dull, dull, dull, my god it’s dull.” Hardly any overtaking, and not a lot going on off track either, Fernando Alonso probably had a ball of a time just chilling out in his motorhome. Just goes to show that these types of tracks just don’t create exciting racing.

And we come to the elephant in the room, this was probably one of the most controversial moment in recent F1 history, should Vettel have been disqualified and banned? was the decision right? The main point is, no matter what the reason was, using your car to vent your anger and frustration is never the right thing to do, and while the pair kissed and made up, it left quite a sour taste in the paddock for a couple of races and a couple of tense on track moments too. Needless to say, it’s good that the pair were able to put aside the incident and went at it wheel to wheel to the end.

To be honest this was a no brainer, to say Hamilton lucked out in this race is a minor understatement. The debate still goes on as to who is at fault, my view is that it’s a racing incident, but Vettel did start the ball rolling, lets be honest, you’re on pole, and the bloke next to you has a reputation for stuffing it up the inside and for being a hard guy to pass, so what do you do? Do you defend your place into the first corner, or do you just bend over and take it? Its exactly what Vettel went to do, Raikkonen,of all the the moments, gets a brilliant start, Verstappen was basically sandwiched and had nowhere else to go. The collision was inevitable, and Alonso, perfect qualifying and an epic start, and what does he get in return for his efforts, a good ‘ol whack in the side. Poor guy couldn’t catch a break. This was a significant accident, the first time ever that both Ferrari’s retire on the first lap, and Hamilton is the luckiest driver on the planet, there was little hope for him to win the race, but yet somehow lucked out and cruised to an easy victory.

well, thats my list of awards, feel free to leave comments and opinions, I’m always open for a discussion and bit of an elbow barge, lets see if next year will be just as great.