1985 Grand Prix Season Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rene Arnoux

Arnoux moved to Ferrari in 1983 and had been successful in his first season. He was less than successful in his second season which meant the pressure was on Arnoux to deliver for 1985, particularly against teammate Michele Alboreto.
Ferrari was one of the favourites to take at least one crown in 1985. The season started well, with Alboreto taking pole in Brazil and finishing second behind Prost while Arnoux finished fourth after starting seventh.
There is still an air of mystery as to why Arnoux was sacked. One theory was being that after being thoroughly out-paced by Alboreto in 1984, Ferrari was keen to bring in Stefan Bellof as teammate for Alboreto. However, they were unable to release Arnoux from his contract. So Ferrari sacked the Frenchman but chose to replace him with Stefan Johansson.

Answer: Alain Prost

The FIA had introduced fuel limits for turbocharged engines, with the litre capacity brought down season after season to limit the effectiveness of the turbocharged machines.
The Imola circuit was notorious for being hard on fuel consumption and the 1985 race was no different. Ayrton Senna took the pole and was looking set for victory until running out of fuel four laps from the finish. Nelson Piquet and Derek Warwick also ran out of fuel in the closing laps.
Alain Prost crossed the line to take the win but also ran out of fuel on the slowing-down lap. After post-race scrutinizing, it was found to be underweight and subsequently disqualified, with race victory handed to Elio de Angelis.

Answer: Canadian

Michele Alboreto entered the 1985 season one of the preseason favourites for the Championship, and repaid that faith with three second place finishes in the first four races.
At the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, he piloted the number 27 Ferrari, made famous by legendary Canadian Gilles Villeneuve, to victory at the circuit named after him. New teammate Stefan Johansson made it a great day for the Prancing Horse by taking second place.

Answer: Brabham

Nelson Piquet took the final Grand Prix win for Brabham at the 1985 French Grand Prix. It was a fitting tribute after he had won the 1981 and 1983 drivers championships while driving for Brabham.
The famous old marque struggled in 1985 as the team had switched from Goodyear to Pirelli tyres. At a newly surfaced Paul Ricard circuit, the Brazilian outlasted Keke Rosberg and Alain Prost to take his final victory for Brabham. It was the last of 35 for the marque since 1964.

Answer: Keke Rosberg

The Williams-Honda cars in 1985 were more competitive than previous seasons, and the Honda engine was certainly coming on in strides in terms of power.
Rosberg arrived at Silverstone off the back of a win and second place in the previous two races, and put his car on pole position with a lap averaging 160mph. Despite his brilliant pole position, Rosberg retired from the race on lap 21 while Prost took the win.

Answer: Nurburgring

The 1985 German Grand Prix was held at the newly configured Nurburgring circuit, the first time the track had hosted the German Grand Prix since 1976.
Michele Alboreto took his fifth and final Formula One victory with a dominant victory. It was also his third Grand Prix win for Ferrari. The victory also extended his slight lead in the drivers championship over Alain Prost.

Answer: Dutch Grand Prix

The Dutch Grand Prix of 1985 was a series of lasts for certain drivers and the event itself. For Niki Lauda, his 25th win at Zandvoort was to be the last of a long and distinguished career. The Austrian moved up from 10th on the grid to finish only his third and final race of the year. Lauda's 13 races other races in 1985 ended in retirement.
The 1985 Dutch Grand Prix was also the last to be held at Zandvoort, and the last Dutch Grand Prix appear on the Formula One calendar. The Formula One circus had outgrown the Zandvoort circuit and with the owners of Zandvoort going bankrupt. Formula One would never return.
And on a somewhat tragic note, the 1985 Dutch Grand Prix was also the last race for rising star Stefan Bellof, who would be tragically killed in sports car race at Spa the next weekend.

Answer: Ayrton Senna

Qualifying second on the grid, Ayrton Senna won his first race at the fearsome Belgian circuit, and would go on to win the race four more times before his death in 1994. The race was run in September after originally being postponed in June due to the new all-weather surface breaking up in the heat.

Answer: Brands Hatch

In the race that saw Alain Prost finally clinch his first World Championship after coming so close in 1983 and 1984, Nigel Mansell also took his first win of his career with a typically gritty drive. He would quickly go on to take his second career victory at Kyalami in South Africa.
The 1985 European Grand Prix was the last event to be held under the banner until 1993 when the race was held at Donington Park.

Answer: Jacques Laffite and Philippe Streiff

In a race that saw only 8 finishes, it was Keke Rosberg who outlasted all his competitors to take the chequered flag. With many of the so-called big names retiring, Jacques Laffite and Philippe Streiff piloted their Ligier's to second and third. Streiff was lucky to finish after colliding with team-mate on the penultimate lap.
It was the last race for Niki Lauda and Alfa Romeo and also the last victory for Keke Rosberg in Formula One.