British Grand Prix Drivers of the 20th century Quiz

Answer: Peter Collins

Collins became best friends with Mike Hawthorn and they were known for hard partying, particularly Peter, who was rebellious and something of a playboy. He deliberately broke the clutch of his Ferrari at Le Mans to avoid the race in heavy rain and was drinking in a pub in England before the end of the 24 hour race.

He was sacked twice by Ferrari and was reinstated at the insistence of Hawthorn. He was killed trying to keep up with the Vanwall of Tony Brooks at the German GP of 1958, running wide at Pflanzgarten and losing control of the car.

Answer: Tony Brooks

Tony Brooks won his first Formula 1 (non-championship) race at Syracuse, Sicily in 1955, driving a Connaught. He went on to win six championship Grand Prix for Vanwall and Ferrari, including dominant wins at the Nürburgring in 1958 and Reims in 1959. He was the longest surviving of the 1950s drivers, dying at the ripe old age of 90 in 2022.

Answer: Stirling Moss

Stirling Moss was a master of most types of racing car. As well as his performances in Formula 1, with Mercedes, Maserati, Vanwall and Cooper, he drove the 1955 Mille Miglia in just over 10 hours, at an average speed of 99mph. His navigator Dennis Jenkinson had invented a pace note reading machine that allowed Stirling to take blind crests and bends at up to 170mph with confidence.

His sister Pat was a champion rally driver.

Answer: Chris Bristow

The 22-year-old had been known as the wild man of British club racing. Long before the days of the F1 super licence, any talented driver might secure a Formula 1 drive. In his fourth Grand Prix, at the very dangerous Spa-Francorchamps circuit (then the fastest circuit on the calendar, measuring 14km or 9 miles - Jim Clark broke the average lap speed of 150mph in 1967) Chris ran wide at the 120mph fast sweeper at Burnenville, hit the bank and then a barbed-wire fence.

He was killed instantly. A few laps later, another British driver Alan Stacey was killed at the same bend, when hit in the face by a flying bird.

Answer: Jackie Stewart

Effortlessly fast, this Scotsman was perhaps, along with his compatriot Jim Clark, the greatest of his era. Shocked by the horrific driver death rate on the highly dangerous circuits and after a terrifying accident at Spa in the rain at 165mph that left him upside-down in a farmyard with fuel pouring into the cockpit (Spa had no run-offs or fire crews, with spectators, trees, telegraph poles, fences and houses within feet of the track, the fastest on the calendar), Stewart campaigned for improved safety.

This included circuit improvements, seat harnesses, crash barriers, fuel safety, fireproof overalls and much else in the teeth of opposition from "traditionalists" and circuit owners.

Answer: Graham Hill

Graham Hill first drove a racing car when he saw an ad for laps at Brands Hatch at 5 shillings a lap. He was hooked and joined Lotus as a mechanic, blagging his way to a race drive in 1958. He was consistently successful in the 1960s, winning the Monaco Grand Prix five times.

He also became the first driver to win the so-called Triple Crown - the Monaco Grand Prix, the 24 hours of Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500.

Answer: David Purley

David Purley was not very successful as a Formula 1 driver but he is remembered for his heroic attempt to rescue Roger Williamson. He stopped his own car and rushed at Willamson's burning car and tried several times to lift and turn it. He also discharged a fire extinguisher he had grabbed from a marshal.

He received no help from the marshals, who were wearing blazers rather than fireproof clothing, and no other driver stopped, apparently believing that Purley had escaped from his own car and was trying to extinguish the fire. Unfortunately Williamson died.

As was usual in those days the race continued. After this tragedy marshals were mandated to wear fireproof overalls and drivers tended to stop more often for other drivers' accidents.

Answer: James Hunt

Hunt, who had a deserved reputation for partying and who had a patch on his overalls reading "Sex - the breakfast of champions", had a famous rivalry with the brilliant and highly disciplined Austrian Niki Lauda, that came to a head in the 1976 season. Lauda recovered from a crash in Germany returning two races later.

At the final race at Fuji in torrential rain the championship hung in the balance. Lauda retired, judging conditions too dangerous to continue. Hunt finished third to take the World Championship title.

Answer: Tom Pryce

A truly talented Welsh driver, Pryce was predicted to have a stellar career. He was popular as well as brilliant on the track. Unfortunately during the 1977 South African GP he crested the main straight at Kyalami just as a young marshal ran across with a fire extinguisher trying to reach the burning car of Renzo Zorzi. Pryce was unsighted by another car and could not have seen him.

He collided with the teenager at 170mph. The marshal was killed instantly, as was Pryce, when the fire extinguisher hit his helmet.

Answer: John Watson

John Watson from Northern Ireland was a genuine championship contender for McLaren in the early 1980s. He won five Grand Prix in his career, including two in the United States. He has had a long distinguished career as a commentator on various types of motorsport.

Answer: Derek Warwick

Derek Warwick was very successful driving sports cars, including the mighty Porsche 956 and 962, and won Le Mans for Peugeot-Talbot. He was good enough as an F1 driver to be hired for 11 seasons, most successfully in 1984 for Renault, when he had four podium finishes.

Answer: Nigel Mansell

Mansell was famously from Birmingham and did not have the advantages of wealth that many drivers of the day had. He was aggressive and spectacular to watch, driven in personality, and sometimes took too many risks, which allowed the more methodical Piquet to beat him to the championship in 1987. Mansell was thrilling in the 90s in his duels with Ayrton Senna and in 1992 he was finally rewarded with a world championship.

He also won the CART championship the following year.

Answer: Martin Brundle

Brundle had a business career as a car dealer, as well as a long and distinguished TV commentating career. It is fair to say his Formula 1 career did not live up to his early promise, being dogged by uncompetitive cars, a serious accident, and bad timing when he moved to McLaren, who hit a bad patch in 1994 after having been the most successful team for several years. Martin did win Le Mans though, and the World Sportscar Championship for Jaguar.

Answer: Eddie Irvine

Eddie Irvine partnered Michael Schumacher at Ferrari from 1996-1999. Schumacher was disqualified in 1997 but was clearly superior to Irvine in all seasons. In 1999 Schumacher was injured at Silverstone and Irvine took over the team number one driver position to score four victories to Schumacher's two. He was beaten to the championship by two points by Mika Hakkinen.

Answer: Damon Hill

Damon Hill drove for Williams at the time of Ayrton Senna's death in 1994. He had driven with the number zero in 1993 as Mansell had retired as World Champion and the number one was not used. He went from zero to hero, as the championship runner-up in 1994 and 1995 (losing to foul play, some say, by Schumacher at Australia in 1994).

He eventually won the championship in 1996, when both Williams cars comprehensively beat the third-placed Schumacher. Hill scored seven victories, his team-mate, Jacques Villeneuve, four.