Formula 1 Grand Prix Trivia

1. Which designer started his career in IndyCar before joining the March team in 1988, then enjoying successful stints with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull Racing?

From Quiz Formula One: Designed to Win

Answer: Adrian Newey

Adrian Newey is arguably one of the greatest designers in the history of Formula One. Having worked as a race engineer to begin, he has generally worked as an aerodynamicist, designer or technical director. His first winning car was the 1992 Williams FW14B, which romped to the 1992 World Championship for Drivers and Constructors. His designs won further titles in 1993 (both), 1994 (Constructors), 1996 (both) and 1997 (both), though he had left Williams prior to the 1997 season. He moved to McLaren for the 1998 season, helping design the MP4/13, which won both titles, and the MP/14, which won the drivers title in 1999. But while his designs were often fast, the cars could prove unreliable at times, though he remained innovative. Joining Red Bull in 2006, he had to wait until 2009 to taste victory with the RB5, but from then until 2013, Red Bull were unstoppable, winning four consecutive driver and constructors titles. His list of innovations over the years are simply too many to mention. If you're a recent F1 fan and hear about a 'blown diffuser' in conversation, you can thank Mr. Newey for that!

From Quiz F1 Rules: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Answer: Engine

The cost of competing in F1 came under scrutiny following the global financial crash of 2008 and the shock withdrawal of Honda from the sport. After the teams failed to agree on a limit for a full budget cap, the governing body, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), introduced a whole raft of new rules for 2009 that were aimed at limiting costs. One of these was the decision to limit engines, meaning that each driver had just eight engines available to complete 19 races and any driver that needed to use a ninth engine faced taking a 10-place grid penalty. At the time this new rule seemed harsh and unworkable given that teams used to routinely change engines during a grand prix weekend and turn up with new engines for each event. However, the 2009 engine rule was lax compared to the one in place ten years later - in 2019 only three of each element of the power unit could be used without incurring a penalty.

From Quiz Alphabetical F1 - About the 'H's

Answer: McLaren

Lewis Hamilton made his F1 debut for the McLaren team at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix at the age of 22. He finished that race in third place and went on to take nine straight podiums (including two race wins) in his first nine races and finished the season as the world championship runner-up by a single point. His amazingly successful rookie season provided a good indication of what was to follow - he took the world championship for McLaren in 2008 (their first since Mika Hakkinen in 1999) and then repeated the feat with the Mercedes team in 2014 (and several more years after that). During his career Hamilton also broke a number of the sport's key records, including Michael Schumacher's (former) record of 68 pole positions, total points scored, most wins from pole position and youngest world champion (which was broken by Sebastian Vettel two years later).

From Quiz Alphabetical F1 - The 'G's in "It's Go, Go, Go!"

Answer: France

While the exact race to hold the title of the 'First Grand Prix' is subject to some historical debate, all of the potential candidates were held in France - which perhaps shouldn't be surprising given that the term is a French one. It translates into English as "Great Prize" and was the name given to races organised at a circuit in Le Mans by the Automobile Club de France (ACF) from 1906 onwards. The ACF later renamed previous road races they had organised as 'Grands Prix', which left a race from Paris to Bordeaux (and back again) in 1895 listed as the "I Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France". The first Grand Prix to be held under new rules designated as "Formula One" was the 1946 Turin Grand Prix, which was won by Alfa Romeo. The first Grand Prix to form part of the F1 World Championship was the 1950 British Grand Prix held at Silverstone; it was won by Juan Manuel Fangio, also for Alfa Romeo.

From Quiz Alphabetical F1 - The 'F's in F1

Answer: The Prancing Horse

The Scuderia Ferrari motor racing team was founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, originally as the racing division of the Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo. The team eventually started building their own cars and were one of the entrants at the very first F1 championship race in 1950. Their first win in the new formula was scored by Alberto Ascari at the 1951 German Grand Prix, their 100th win came when Alain Prost took victory in the 1990 French Grand Prix and their 200th win was the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix (courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen). The team have also won numerous drivers' and constructors' world championship titles during their decades in the sport - including five for Michael Schumacher between 2000 and 2004. The "Prancing Horse" that appears on the team's logo originated from the symbol painted on the wings of the plane flown by the famous Italian First World War fighter pilot, Francesco Baracca. The Prancing Pony was the name of the inn at Bree in J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings'. 'The Italian Stallion' was a 1970 film featuring Sylvester Stallone, as well as a nickname of one of Stallone's most famous characters - Rocky Balboa.

From Quiz Formula 1 Grand Prix

Answer: Hockenheimring, Germany

The old layout of the Hockenheimring circuit was very fast, with long straights, three chicanes between them and a stadium section known as the "Motodrom". It was made shorter in 2002 because the old layout was deemed unsafe and the spectators didn't see enough action. The new layout was designed by Hermann Tilke.

From Quiz Alphabetical F1 - The 'E' in Grand Prix

Answer: Brabham

Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone rose to prominence in F1 in 1971 when he bought the Brabham team from Ron Tauranac. The team had been established ten years earlier by Tauranac and the former world champion, Jack Brabham. However, Ecclestone did have previous connections with the sport - he had entered (but not competed in) two grands prix as a driver in 1958 and was the manager of the ill-fated drivers Stuart Lewis-Evans and Jochen Rindt. Under Ecclestone's ownership, Brabham won 22 F1 races, finished second and third in the constructors' championship on multiple occasions and powered Nelson Piquet to two drivers' championships in 1981 and 1983. Ecclestone's real power in F1 came in later years when he took on the role of organising races and the commercial rights to the sport on behalf of all the teams. Prior to Ecclestone's management, F1 was a somewhat niche sport and the majority of races were not televised. He gradually turned the sport into the global spectacle seen by fans in the 21st century and expanded its reach with races in more and more countries around the world. However, he also became a controversial figure thanks to (amongst other things) the fact that he used the sport to make his own personal fortune, encouraged races in countries with dubious human rights records and faced legal charges of bribery and corruption (which were settled out of court with no assumption of innocence or guilt). His almost omnipotent presence at the helm of F1 came to an end in January 2017 following the sale of the sport to the US media giant, Liberty Media.

From Quiz Alphabetical F1 - Driving 'D's

Answer: Arrows

Damon Hill won his only F1 world championship title with the Williams team in 1996, but was controversially dropped for the following year in favour of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. To keep his F1 career alive, Hill joined Arrows (formerly known as Footwork) at the start of the 1997 season - a team that had finished in ninth place in the constructors' championship the previous year with the grand total of one point. Against all the odds, Hill and Arrows very nearly won the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix, but were denied by a mechanical fault with the hydraulics that developed with just three laps to go and relegated Hill to second place. Pedro Diniz's best result of the season in the second Arrows car was a fifth-place finish at the Luxembourg Grand Prix. Hill competed for the Jordan team in 1998 and 1999, while Diniz drove for Ligier in 1996.

From Quiz Alphabetical F1 - 'C's in the Seasons

Answer: Circuit de Charade

Since the beginning of the F1 world championship in 1950, the French Grand Prix has been hosted at a wide variety of race tracks, from the public roads around Reims that made up the Reims-Gueux circuit to a modified version of the legendary circuit at Le Mans. The Circuit de Charade near the city of Clermont-Ferrand in France's mountainous Auvergne region hosted the French Grand Prix in 1965, 1969, 1970 and 1972. As might be expected given its location on the side of an extinct volcano, the track was twisty and fast with significant elevation changes around the 8km (5 mile) route. The inaugural F1 race at the circuit in 1965 was won by Jim Clark at the head of a British 1-2-3 finish. Jackie Stewart won the 1969 and 1972 events while the 1970 race was won by that year's champion, Jochen Rindt - the first driver to the win the F1 world championship posthumously. However, like many older circuits, the Circuit de Charade was extremely dangerous with little run off area and was often littered with stones and debris. From 1973 the French Grand Prix was moved to alternate between the Paul Ricard and Dijon-Prenois circuits, before transferring to the facility at Magny-Cours in 1991. The last competitive motor race on the original layout took place in 1988 although a shorter, more modern circuit was created and continued to host races into the 21st century.

From Quiz Alphabetical F1 - "To 'B', or Not to 'B'"

Answer: Most race starts

The 2008 Turkish Grand Prix was Rubens Barrichello's 257th start in F1, breaking Riccardo Patrese's previous record of 256 that had stood since 1993 - the year in which Barrichello first entered the sport with the Jordan team. He spent three years with the Stewart team before moving to Ferrari in 2000 to be Michael Schumacher's team-mate. Although he was very much the number two driver during his time at Ferrari (evidenced by numerous occasions when he was forced to let Schumacher past him), he took his maiden victory at the 2000 German Grand Prix and recorded a total of nine wins over his six seasons with the famous Italian team. He was driving for Honda when he notched up his 257th race and his final victory came in 2009 with the Brawn team. He completed his career with Williams - his final race at the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix was his 326th. At the time Barrichello broke the record for most race starts, the record for most podium finishes, most pole positions and most races for Ferrari were all held by Michael Schumacher.

From Quiz Alphabetical F1 - All Things 'A'

Answer: Alfa Romeo

The 1950 F1 season consisted of six grands prix and the Indianapolis 500 race. The Alfa Romeo 158 car didn't compete at Indy, but it did win all the other events (the British, Monaco, Swiss, Belgian, French and Italian Grands Prix). The team's lead drivers, Juan Manuel Fangio and Nino Farina, won three races each, but Farina was crowned champion thanks to the additional points he scored from a fourth place finish at the Belgian race. The Alfa Romeo 158 was developed in the pre-Second World War era and made its racing debut at Livorno in 1938. After the war Alfa Romeo used it for their entry into the new form of motorsport known as 'Formula 1' and it (along with a new version known as the 159) dominated the 1950 and 1951 seasons, winning 10 of the 13 races. Sadly, financial difficulties meant Alfa Romeo withdrew from Formula 1 at the end of the 1951 season. The incorrect options were all Italian F1 teams - however, they were also all short-lived and unsuccessful.

From Quiz They Should Have Been Kings

Answer: 4

He finished second to Juan Manuel Fangio in 1955, 1956 and 1957, while he would finish only one point behind Mike Hawthorn in 1958. He would also finish third overall in 1959 and 1960 (to Jack Brabham) and in 1961 (to Phil Hill). Between 1955 and 1961, Moss would win 16 Grand Prix in all. His most successful season in 1958 was when he won four Grand Prix.

From Quiz Grand Prix: The Epic Races

Answer: Mercedes

The 1914 French Grand Prix was an epic battle between the French Peugeots and German Mercedes. 300,000 people watched a lone Frenchman, Georges Boillot who had twice won the French Grand Prix, take on five German Mercedes almost single-handedly. But it was a futile effort. The Mercedes team had an almost fool-proof plan of forcing all other cars to destruction. Boillot battled valiantly against the Mercedes cars of Christian Lautenschlager, Louis Wagner and others, but with continuous tyres stops and a failing car it was in vain. Lautenschlager would lead home a Mercedes 1-2-3 on French soil as Boillot retired on the penultimate lap, slumped in his seat in tears.

From Quiz Formula One Racing

Answer: Arrows

Damon Hill joined Arrows in 1997 from the Williams team, but he only drove for 1 year before moving to Jordan.

From Quiz Formula One Know-It-All?

Answer: McLaren

Jan Magnussen finished his debut race 10th in the 1995 Pacific Grand Prix with McLaren, replacing Mika Hakkinen who was undergoing an appendix operation.

From Quiz Formula One Failures [6]

Answer: Jyrki Jarvilehto

There were a number of collisions on the opening lap: Damon Hill and Ayrton Senna, the Footwork cars of Aguri Suzuki and Derek Warwick, and a single-car incident involving Rubens Barrichello. It was Jyrki Jarvilehto (later shortened to JJ Lehto) who crashed into his Jordan teammate. Marco Apicella's F1 race distance was only 800 metres. Apicella had much better success in Formula 3000 and Japanese Super GT.

From Quiz "Murrayisms": Mr Walker is Back!

Answer: sounding

"Do my eyes deceive me, or is Senna's Lotus sounding rough ?". Since when do you hear what the car sounds like with your eyes! Senna retired from this race on lap 48 with electrical glitches.

From Quiz Formula One Failures [5]

Answer: 30

Boesel ran for March in 1982 and Ligier in 1983. He made 23 races, scoring a best finish of 7th at the 1983 Long Beach GP. Boesel had more success in CART, Indy, and the World Sportscar Championship, where he won the title in 1987.

From Quiz Formula One Failures [4]

Answer: Fittipaldi

Hoffmann drove for the Fittipaldi-owned Copersucar in 1976 and 1977. Sadly, many felt he was rushed into F1 thanks to his links with the Fittipaldis. In six races, he had a career-best finish of seventh at the 1977 Brazilian Grand Prix. Hoffmann had a much better career in the Brazilian Stock Car Championship series, where he won the series twelve times.

From Quiz Flags of Formula One

Answer: Slow down and allow the faster car behind them to pass.

During a race, the person being lapped must allow the faster cars approaching them to pass within a certain period of time or else risk a penalty.

From Quiz Formula One Failures [3]

Answer: 1977

Heyer failed to qualify for the 1977 German Grand Prix, but he managed to get his ATS onto the track and compete anyway as the illegal 25th entry. He eventually retired nine laps into the race with a gear linkage problem. He was the 100th driver to be profiled on a site called f1rejects.com (where, with Wikipedia, I get my information for this and other quizzes). F1rejects.com is a site devoted to the worst of F1.

From Quiz Formula One Failures [2]

Answer: 56

Badoer ran in 56 races for Scuderia Italia (1993), Minardi (1995, 1999), and Forti (1996). He never scored a single point.

From Quiz Formula One Rules and Regulations

Answer: tyres

The rules of 2005 stated that each of the ten teams taking part were not allowed to change the tyres during a grand prix no matter how worn they became. The only way drivers were allowed to change was if they had to switch tyre types (Dry, Intermediate & Wet). Alonso became a victim of this rule at Monaco where his tyres were worn away so badly he had virtually no grip left.

From Quiz Challenging F1

Answer: Barcelona

The Pedralbes circuit used first in 1951, used part of the main road to Madrid. Five time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio won the race.

From Quiz A Race Of Firsts

Answer: Keke Rosberg 1982

Despite only winning one race, Rosberg claimed the championship in 1982, becoming the first Finn to win the championship.

From Quiz Formula One Failures [1]

Answer: Minardi

Barilla ran 15 races in 1989 and 1990.

From Quiz F1 Insanity

Answer: Jean Alesi - Retired

Jean Alesi recorded the fastest lap of the 1995 Monaco Grand Prix, just before his retirement from the race because of a spin on lap 42. It was 1:24.621. Michael Schumacher came first but didn't record the fastest time. Damon Hill finished 2nd, 34.817 seconds behind Michael Schumacher. Blundell didn't retire as he finished 5th.

From Quiz Formula One Madness

Answer: Alfa Romeo

The U.S. Grand Prix was in fact the Indy 500, but in those days the teams did not have to go to every race and all the top drivers decided not to go that year. Ferrari and the small Talbot Lago team could not keep up with Alfa Romeo, and Mclaren were not around in 1950.

From Quiz "Murrayisms": Classic Murray Walker Quotes

Answer: Alboreto is fifth

Typical of the man - always getting his numbers, positions and lap numbers wrong!

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Last Updated Nov 23 2024 5:44 AM

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