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

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.

Answer: Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

Blanchimont can be found on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium along with a range of other famous corners such as Eau Rouge, Stavelot, Pouhon and Les Combes. The track layout used in 1950 was 14 kilometres (8.5 miles) long and looped through the local countryside on public roads. Blanchimont featured towards the end of the circuit, which took just over three minutes to complete at average speeds of around 260 km/h (160 mph). Unfortunately a high speed circuit on local roads with no or minimal safety features meant that the old Spa circuit was notoriously dangerous. A total of 35 racing drivers or motorcyclists were killed on the circuit between 1925 and 1978, although only two of these lost their lives at F1 events. In the end F1 drivers refused to race on the circuit and the 1969 and 1971 Belgian Grands Prix were cancelled. The event moved to the Zolder circuit and only returned to Spa in 1983 after the circuit had been modified to a tiny cut-down version of its previous layout. However, Blanchimont was one corner which survived the circuit's transformation.

The incorrect options were all circuits that featured in the inaugural season of F1 in 1950.

Answer: Bertrand Gachot

Bertrand Gachot is probably best remembered for being the Jordan driver who ended up in prison in 1991 and effectively opened up an F1 opportunity for a then unknown young driver named Michael Schumacher...

Although Gachot competed for Belgium for the first three years of his F1 career, he was actually born in Luxembourg to a French father and a German mother. He made his grand prix debut at the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix and competed for Onyx, Rial and Coloni with no success before joining Jordan for the 1991 season. He managed three point-scoring finishes before his season was cut abruptly short. He returned to F1 in 1992 with Larrousse and scored his final F1 point at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix. His career was rounded off by two years with the Pacific team in 1994 and 1995 that yielded just two race finishes.

Lucien Bianchi competed in F1 in the 1950s and 1960s; both he and his great-nephew, Jules Bianchi, died as a direct result of motor-racing accidents. Thierry Boutsen won three races during his career that lasted from 1983 to 1993. Bernard de Dryver (and yes, that is the real name of an F1 driver) entered two races in the late 1970s, but failed to qualify on both occasions.

Answer: Mercedes

The Brawn GP team was hastily put together in the weeks prior to the start of the 2009 season after Honda had unexpectedly withdrawn their support for their F1 team in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis and a disastrous 2008 season. The irony of the situation for Honda was that their 2009 car, developed by a team of engineers led by Ross Brawn, was much better than those of all their rivals. Luckily, Brawn stepped up to lead a management buy-out of the team, hastily modified the car to fit a Mercedes engine in the back and re-hired Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello to drive it. They recorded a dominant one-two finish at the season opening Australian Grand Prix, Button won six of the first seven races and he and the team hung on to clinch both championships despite a significant lack of resources and development compared to their rivals.

The team were bought out by Mercedes after the end of the 2009 season, securing Brawn's 100% record. It took Mercedes a further four years before they were able to emulate Brawn's championship success.

Answer: Martin Brundle

Martin Brundle competed in F1 between 1984 and 1996 for a variety of teams including McLaren, Williams and Jordan. His best results were second place finishes at the 1992 Italian Grand Prix (behind Ayrton Senna) and the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix (behind former team-mate Michael Schumacher). In total he started 158 grands prix and at the time of his retirement had the somewhat dubious honour of being second on the all-time list of drivers who had started the most races without actually winning one.

Arguably, his second career as an F1 commentator was more successful than his first as an F1 driver. He joined Murray Walker in the commentary box for ITV in 1997 and remained in the role when coverage in the UK moved to the BBC and then Sky Sports. He became particularly known for his (much copied) pre-race "grid walk" - wandering about just before the start of the race interviewing drivers, other F1 personalities, celebrities or even just any random people he could get hold of! He won the Royal Television Society's annual award for best sports pundit on four occasions between 1998 and 2006.

Answer: Japan

Bridgestone were founded in the Japanese city of Kurume in 1931 and first entered F1 in 1976 when they supplied tyres for a single Japanese entrant at the Japanese Grand Prix. Their first race as a major tyre supplier was in 1997 with five mid to lower-grid teams and in 1998 they added McLaren to their list of customers to win the first of their world championship titles. However, it was their partnership with Ferrari that began in 1999 which brought the majority of their success, with Bridgestone tyres taking Michael Schumacher to five world drivers' championships. After Michelin left the sport in 2006, Bridgestone were left as F1's sole tyre manufacturer. They were replaced by Pirelli for the 2011 season.

Since the name 'Bridgestone' doesn't sound particularly Japanese, it is probably worth pointing out that the name comes from a translation of the surname of their founder, Shojiro Ishibashi. Ishibashi can be translated into English as 'stone bridge'.

Answer: Benetton

The Benetton Group (and their best-known clothing brand United Colors of Benetton) first became involved with F1 as a sponsor of the Tyrrell team in 1983. Two years later the company bought the team and the newly renamed Benetton team made their debut at the 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix, with Gerhard Berger finishing in sixth place and scoring a single world championship point. In total the team won 27 grands prix over the course of their 16 seasons in F1, including one world constructors' championship title (in 1995) and two drivers' titles (Michael Schumacher in 1994 and 1995). Other notable drivers employed by Benetton at some point during their careers include world champions Nelson Piquet and Jenson Button as well as race-winners Jean Alesi, Johnny Herbert, Riccardo Patrese, Thierry Boutsen, Alessandro Nannini and Giancarlo Fisichella. The Benetton name left F1 in 2002 after the team was bought out by Renault.

The incorrect options are all Italian fashion and clothing companies - but none of them competed in F1 in the 1990s.

Answer: Indian Grand Prix

The first Indian F1 Grand Prix took place in October 2011 at the newly built Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, near the country's capital, New Delhi. The inaugural event had plenty of Indian participation with an Indian team (Force India) and an Indian driver (Narain Karthikeyan) on the grid. Another Indian driver, Karun Chandhok, also took part in the first practice session for Lotus. The first three grands prix held at the circuit between 2011 and 2013 were all won by Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull - unfortunately scheduling changes and a tax dispute meant the circuit was then dropped from the F1 calendar.

The Bahrain and Chinese Grands Prix were first held in 2004 at the Bahrain International Circuit and Shanghai International Circuit respectively. The Korean Grand Prix was first held at the Korea International Circuit in 2010. (I'm beginning to sense a theme developing in the naming conventions for new F1 tracks in Asia.)

Answer: Brabham

Jack Brabham, the Australian triple F1 world champion, won his titles in 1959, 1960 and 1966. His first two championship victories came while he was competing for Cooper, but his final success came while he was driving for his own eponymous team. He set up the Brabham team in time for the 1962 season and stayed on to drive his own cars until 1970. In addition to his championship win in 1966, he finished as runner-up to his team-mate/employee Denny Hulme in 1967. In all, the Brabham driver-team combination took seven victories and a further 14 podium finishes. The team was later to sold to Bernie Ecclestone and won a further two drivers' championships with Nelson Piquet in 1981 and 1983.

In the earlier years of F1 several famous drivers tried their hand at driving for their own teams, although Jack Brabham was the most successful and the only one to claim a championship title in the process. Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi and John Surtees all gave it a go - with varying levels of success.

Answer: Baku

The 2016 European Grand Prix was the first to be held around the streets of Baku - the capital city of Azerbaijan, situated on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Previous European Grands Prix had been held in Great Britain, Spain and Germany - all nations that generally tend to spring to mind more easily than Azerbaijan when people are asked to name a European country. The circuit itself was an interesting mix of high-speed straights and narrow, winding turns around ancient architecture such as Baku's 12th-century Maiden Tower. Some of the route even went along cobbled streets - although sadly these were temporarily covered in asphalt for the race!

The inaugural event was won by Nico Rosberg for Mercedes, while Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Force India's Sergio Perez completed the podium.

Belgrade, Bratislava and Bucharest are the capital cities of Serbia, Slovakia and Romania respectively.