Forza Minardi! Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1980

Minardi began construction of his own chassis in 1980 for the Formula Two category. His cars were initially piloted by Alessandro Nannini, who would later drive for his Formula One team.

Answer: 1985

Minardi made the plunge into Formula One at a time when strapping a Ford Cosworth to the back of the car wasn't ideal. Turbocharging was now in full swing and Minardi would soon find himself hampered by woefully uncompetitive and unreliable machinery with the Motori Moderni engine.

Answer: Pierluigi Martini

Martini had made his debut in Formula One in 1985 but was roundly panned by critics as he struggled with the uncompetitive Minardi-Motori Moderni. Nannini and de Cesaris were hired for 1986 but fared little better. Campos replaced de Cesaris for 1987 but that did not change the teams fortunes.

Answer: American Grand Prix 1988

As turbocharging rapidly drew to a close in 1988, Minardi reverted back to Ford Cosworth power and re-hired Pierluigi Martini. He repaid the teams faith in his services by bringing home the car sixth in Detroit to score the teams first ever point.

Answer: 1989

As Minardi have always struggled to score, getting one car into the points was a bonus, but getting two was an absolute miracle. It's happened only once for the tiny team - at Silverstone in 1989, when drivers Martini and Luis Perez Sala brought the cars home 5th and 6th.

Minardi have come close on various occassions since - Nurburgring 1999 is an example when Marc Gene finished 6th and Luca Badoer was looking good for a podium before retiring with only a handful of laps to go. Australia 2002 was another with Mark Webber finishing 5th and Alex Yoong 7th.

Answer: Portugal

That man Martini again holds the record for the team, leading one solitary lap at Estoril, in the 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix before finishing 5th.

Answer: Hart

Hoping for a change of fortune as the team slowly tumbled toward the back of the grid, Giancarlo Minardi enlisted the help of Brian Hart's small engine concern for 1997. But, as with the old Fords Minardi had used for years, the Hart engine just wasn't up to the job and the team continued to struggle with drivers Jarno Trulli, Ukyo Katayama and Tarso Marques.

Answer: 7th

With drivers Pierluigi Martini and Gianni Morbidelli, Minardi, with help from Ferrari engines and a neat chassis, managed to finish 7th overall in 1991 on 6 points. Highlight of the year was the 4th place of Martini at Estoril, where he finished only 10 seconds behind the Ferrari of Jean Alesi.

Before the disappearance of several teams, Minardi had finished in the top ten on several occassions - 10th in 1988 (1 pt), =10th in 1989 (6 pts), 8th in 1993 (7 pts), 10th in 1994 (5 pts).

The team managed only 1 point in 1992, 1995 and 1999 and 2 pts in 2002. They have failed to score points in 1985-87, 1990, 1996-1998, 2000-01 and 2003.

Answer: Paul Stoddart

The Australian acquired the team and its assets at the end of January 2001, leaving the team little time to get ready for the approaching F1 season. But somehow the team made it to Melbourne and have since survived on little more than a shoestring budget, particularly compared to the likes of Ferrari and Toyota.

Answer: True

Amazingly, for a backmarker team relying on funds from drivers, Martini managed to start 107 races for the Faenza-based team between 1985 and 1995, with only one season spent at Dallara in 1992. No Minardi driver even comes close to the record, particularly given the situation of the team in the late 1990s and early 2000s where there had been a revolving door atmosphere at the end of the season. Marc Gene and Gianni Morbidelli have managed 33 races for the team, Luca Badoer and Alessandro Nannini had 32 races for the team and Luis Perez Sala managed 31 appearances.