Donkey of the Race- Australia

[anfield5]

McLaren and Red Bull for failing to get 1/2 of their drivers around the parade lap. Ferrari wheel man (poor guy will be at the dole office this morning - hope he can swim, because it is a long long way home). Chris Horner for whinging and whining simply because it is not RBR that are the dominant force. Maldonado (yeah I know it wasn't his fault) for not getting past turn 2 before he made friends with the wall

[airshifter]

Before I forget. An honourary donkey should go to Sky UK, who incessantly blathered on about Kimi being bumped by Seb, when the Finn himself had already said he didn't touch with Seb, but was hit from behind. (Sainz) That post-race interview by whoever that chick is, just smacked of desperation to incite a RAI/VET spat. Obviously in their world the idea that two people can race each other hard and still get along doesn't compute in their world.

You must have a really short memory. She's not the only one that said it was Kimi's fault. Bravo!

Wrong. It was Kimi

He had to slow down into corner 1 and then touched Nasr's Sauber which then cluttered into Maldonado's back

Yes Kimi touched Sainz, when Sainz hit him in the back end. And Kimi was at the track edge he and Nasr steered into each other, because Pastor was steering into Nasr. You were pretty quick to pass judgement when you thought Seb was being brought into question, when in reality at best it was the "fault" of 3 or 4 drivers.

Having watched it from several angles in slow motion now, it really all started when Massa checked up for no apparent reason. That made Kimi check up and run side by side with Seb, Sainz didn't check up and almost pushed Kimi off track. Sainz escaped with Nasr ended up a sandwich, as much Pastors fault as his own. Short of going off track, Kimi had no where else to go, and people aren't required to go off track to allow a pass.

[rjbetty]

I think Fernando has nobody else to blame but himself. It's not like he went to McLaren because he wanted to be there. The fallout with Ferrari was entirely his own doing and thus he manoeuvred himself into a position where he was left wit sabbatical vs McLaren as the only choice.

Well I think the fallout was Ferrari's doing. They let him down rather than the other way around. I don't like hearing that Fernando threw titles away as though he had an equal car with the best. The way I see it, he was actually very patient but their incompetence, and going from bad to worse, in the end, even wore him down a bit. It's not like he screamed and shouted to anyone who would listen: More that on a few occasions a little bit of understandable frustration leaked over the edge.

It was amazing he was in a position to take the title in the first place, as without him, 5th in the WDC would have been the best they ever got in those years.

I think your view is kinda harsh imo.

[Doc Austin]

I think Ferrari fired all of those people because they could not give Fernando a good enough car to keep him. One can hardly blame Fernando for wanting to drive something competitive.

Having said that, if McLaren can't turn it around soon I expect another falling out between him and Dennis. I can't see Alonso putting up with the kind of weekend Button just had.

[N. Jones]

The former Ferrari front jack man/pit lane red light/green light operator. Somebody is out of a job!

[jens]

Sergio Perez - In the absence of remembering blatant driving mistakes or any adversity suffered, was the last placed finisher in a MB powered car. Button was last, but had the adversity of a Honda engine.

Pérez yeah. For half a race he was wandering behind McLaren. Couldn't understand, what he was doing there. Though I didn't recognize, why didn't he have straightline speed to just breeze past Honda with his Mercedes power unit.

Talking about longer implications, Pérez' career could be under threat this year. Every year there are drivers, who come and go. Both Hulk and Pérez have been around for a few years and especially if car performance (FI) is not that great either, they fall a bit under the radar. And for a driver, who happens to lose the team-mate battle, it will be really hard to keep himself on the grid. So unfortunately that's the situation for Sergio now.

[jens]

2. Ron Dennis for switching from Mercedes to Honda
3. Fernando Alonso for switching from Ferrari to McLaren

Ron Dennis may not have had much of a chance as McLaren didn't have title sponsorship and as a customer team of Mercedes was in danger of becoming another struggling midfield team with lack of funds.

At least Honda gives them lots of money, even if not outright performance... Though who knows, what is better long-term. Because if you are nowhere, it further damages your image even if you currently do not have financial problems...

[Doc Austin]

The way Magnussen's car lurched when it spit chunks of motor out the back suggests the problem is not entirely with McLaren!

[kfzmeister]

Perez