F1 in 2015 - The Highs and The Lows Quiz

Answer: Jackie Stewart

Lewis Hamilton won his third world championship title in 2015, following his previous wins in 2008 and 2014. Amazingly, despite ten British drivers having won a total of 15 championships between 1958 and 2014, not one of them had managed to successfully defend their title - luckily Hamilton was able to break that unenviable record in 2015.

Prior to Hamilton's success, Jackie Stewart was the only British driver to have won three world championships - his wins came in 1969, 1971 and 1973. Graham Hill and Jim Clark won two F1 world championships each during the 1960s. Nigel Mansell only took the title once - in 1992.

Answer: Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso moved from Ferrari to his old team, McLaren, ahead of the 2015 season. Unfortunately he had a major accident during testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona and had to be airlifted to hospital. The final diagnosis was concussion and he was forced to miss the first race of the season in Australia due to the potential risk of second-impact syndrome. However, as it turned out he didn't miss that much - his car (with reserve driver Kevin Magnussen at the wheel) broke down on the way to the starting grid.

On his return to action Alonso was also forced to deny a whole set of wild rumours that had circulated amongst the media during his absence - most of which suggested that Alonso had suffered retrograde amnesia and been left believing he was just 14 years old...

The incorrect options are the other three former world champions who lined up for the 2015 season (excluding Lewis Hamilton who was also the reigning world champion).

Answer: Malaysian Grand Prix

Vettel recorded his first victory for Scuderia Ferrari in only his second race with the team, the Malaysian Grand Prix held on 29 March 2015. The win was particularly notable as Ferrari had failed to win a single race the previous year, a fact which prompted their previous star driver, Fernando Alonso, to leave the team in favour of McLaren. Incidentally the race also marked Vettel's 40th grand prix victory and was his first win since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Vettel's achievement was particularly impressive as he managed to beat the all-conquering Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg into second and third place respectively. He also went on to win a further two races in 2015 (in Hungary and Singapore) and was the only non-Mercedes driver to stand on the top step of the podium that year.

The incorrect options were Ferrari's three previous victories - the 2013 Spanish and Chinese Grands Prix and the 2012 German Grand Prix, which were all won by Fernando Alonso.

Answer: Honda

McLaren's woes in 2013 and 2014 (when they finished 5th in the constructors' championship) paled into insignificance compared to the difficulties and disappointments they encountered in 2015. Their new Honda engine was significantly underpowered compared to the Mercedes engine they had given up at the end of 2014. It also had a particular problem with the efficiency of its energy recovery system, which often left the McLarens running out of power well before the end of any long straights. To add insult to injury, the car was not just slow, but also thoroughly unreliable - Button and Alonso clocked up eight retirements in the first half of the season and on two further occasions were unable to even make it to the start. The second half of the season proved slightly better - but not by much! In total the team scored a measly 27 points and only managed to beat the struggling perennial backmarkers, Marussia.

The incorrect options are all former engine suppliers to the McLaren F1 team.

Answer: Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean drove for the Lotus F1 team in 2015, a task that was hampered consistently throughout the year by the team's financial problems. These included unpaid bills that resulted in the threat of receiving no tyres for the Hungarian Grand Prix, being locked out of their hospitality units in Japan (leaving the drivers to beg food from other teams) and the threat of the team being wound up for non-payment of tax by the British government.

However, despite the gloomy atmosphere, Romain Grosjean drove an excellent race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit to be in fourth place with two laps to go and secure third when one of the tyres on Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari blew up. It proved to be his best result of the season by a long way - neither he, nor his team-mate Pastor Maldonado, were able to finish higher than seventh at any other race.

Answer: One tyre was above the maximum allowed temperature on the starting grid

As bizarre as it might sound, Felipe Massa was disqualified from his home race thanks to the fact that one of his tyres had overheated on the grid. The official measurement suggested that his right rear tyre was 137°C, 27°C above the maximum limit, although the team disputed the finding and initiated an appeal against the decision. However, the appeal was later dropped as Massa had only finished the race in 8th place anyway and the four points lost made no difference to either his or his team's position in the world championship at such a late stage in the year.

The incorrect options are the previous three reasons for cars being disqualified from an F1 race: fuel issues (Daniel Ricciardo from the 2014 Australian Grand Prix); illegal rear wings (Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi from the 2011 Australian Grand Prix); and lying to the stewards (Lewis Hamilton from the 2009 Australian Grand Prix).

Answer: Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, located in Mexico City, first hosted the Mexican Grand Prix in 1962. The race was held there until 1970 and then again between 1986 and 1992. It was then another 23 years before the Mexican F1 fans were able to once again attend their home grand prix in 2015. The circuit is named after the brothers Ricardo and Pedro Rodríguez - Ricardo was killed at the circuit in 1962 while Pedro was killed in a sports car race in Germany in 1971.

Many F1 circuits from the 1960s to 1980s have been deemed unsuitable for modern 21st century F1 and either dropped from the calendar or heavily remodelled. The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez was no exception and needed significant modification before it made its reappearance on the calendar, including the removal of the famous Peraltalda corner. The track was also re-routed to pass between the grandstands of a baseball stadium - which provided a unique and amazing atmosphere on race day.

The Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez hosted the Argentine Grand Prix 20 times between 1953 and 1998; the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari at Imola in Italy hosted the San Marino Grand Prix between 1981 and 2006 (and the Italian Grand Prix in 1980); and the Autódromo José Carlos Pace was still on the calendar in 2015 as the host of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Answer: His hat, marked "2nd"

'Hat-gate' - as it became known - occurred in the drivers' cool down room just prior to the appearance of the top three finishers on the podium. Since cameras were broadcasting live from the room, a worldwide audience was treated to the image of Lewis Hamilton 'helpfully' throwing Rosberg his 2nd place hat and Rosberg (somewhat forcefully) lobbing it straight back at him!

Rosberg was probably in such a bad mood as he had been leading the race until lap 48 of 56, when he lost control of his car and slithered off the track - handing the lead, and the world championship title, to his team-mate Hamilton. He later blamed the incident on a freak gust of wind... Perhaps venting his feelings did Rosberg some good though as he did go on to win the final three races of the season.

Answer: Toro Rosso

Prior to the start of the 2015 season the media (and quite a few F1 personalities) were critical of Toro Rosso for giving a drive in F1 to a 17 year old. However, Verstappen proved a lot of them wrong by setting a new record for the youngest driver to score a F1 point in only his second race and achieving two fourth place finishes in Hungary and the USA. Setting aside a few rash errors (his crash in Monaco instantly springs to mind) he had an impressive debut season for any rookie, let alone a teenage one.

Toro Rosso (the Red Bull junior team) has a proven track record of giving young drivers on their development programme the opportunity to compete at the highest level of international motorsport. However, they also have a proven track record of dropping them ruthlessly if their skills and career fail to progress. Max Verstappen must be hoping that he joins the ranks of Sebastian Vettel (four-time world champion), Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat (the main Red Bull team's drivers in 2015) rather than the likes of Jaime Alguersuari, Scott Speed and Sebastien Bourdais (whose F1 careers have disappeared without trace).

Answer: Hungarian Grand Prix

Jules Bianchi had been in a coma since his accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. In heavy rain and poor visibility he had lost control of his Marussia, aquaplaned off the road and collided with a recovery vehicle that was on the side of the circuit rescuing the remains of Adrian Sutil's Sauber (which had crashed on the previous lap). He never regained consciousness and died nine months later in hospital near his home in Nice, France.

The run-up to the Hungarian Grand Prix was full of tributes to Bianchi. Before the race started, a touching ceremony was held on the start line - Bianchi's race helmet was placed in the middle of a circle formed by the current drivers and Bianchi's family while the crowd observed a one minute silence. Sebastian Vettel went on to win the race and dedicate it to Bianchi, saying "Merci Jules, you will always be in our hearts".

These events proved a sad reminder that despite all the safety advances that have taken place in F1 over the years, it still remains a dangerous and potentially deadly sport.