The 2013 Formula 1 Season Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kimi Räikkönen

In qualifying the Red Bulls showed they were fastest from the very start of the season as they qualified both on the front row, followed by Lewis Hamilton, both Ferraris and Nico Rosberg. Räikkönen only qualified seventh but as it turned out his Lotus was much better at handling the tyres during the race. Especially Red Bull and Mercedes were struggling with tyre conservation and Räikkönen laid the foundation for his victory by making one less pit-stop than the other frontrunners. Räikkönen won the Australian Grand Prix with Fernando Alonso coming second and Sebastian Vettel third.

It was to be Räikkönen's only victory this season. Lotus was competitive in most races and Räikkönen had a strong first half of the season with ten consecutive point scoring races. In the second half of the season Räikkönen's relationship with the team deteriorated because unpaid wages led him to engage in contractual negotiations with Ferrari. Räikkönen had to withdraw for the last two races because of back surgery. He ended the championship in fifth place.

Teammate Romain Grosjean struggled to keep up in the first half of the season but finally came good towards the end of the season when he finished on the podium four times in the last six races. He finished the season in seventh place.

Answer: Sebastian Vettel ignored a team order to stay behind Mark Webber

After the last pit stops Mark Webber was leading Sebastian Vettel when the latter was given a coded "multi 21" message, which meant he had to back off and let Webber in the lead. However, Vettel chose to ignore the team order and overtook Webber anyway, to score his first victory of the season.

The battle for third place went on between both Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Mercedes also issued a team order when Rosberg was ordered to stay behind Hamilton. Unlike Vettel Rosberg did obey the team order. So with Vettel winning before Webber after an ignored team order and Hamilton finishing third because of a team order it was sour faces all round during the podium "celebrations" after the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Answer: DRS

Fernando Alonso won two of the first five races (China and Spain) and came second in Australia. After the retirement in the Malaysian Grand Prix, another good result was lost due to a malfunctioning DRS in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

DRS, or drag reduction system, is an adjustable part of the rear wing. On certain designated parts of the track (one or two straights) a flap on the rear wing can be opened (under certain conditions) to reduce drag and give the pursuing car more speed to overtake. During the Bahrain Grand Prix the rear flap on Alonso's Ferrari didn't close when the car came out of the designated activation zone. The flap needs to close again after the straight to give the car better cornering speed. Because of this malfunction Alonso had to make two unscheduled pit stops and couldn't use the device for the remainder of the race, effectively destroying all chances for a good result. In the end he had to settle for eighth place.

China and Spain turned out to be the only victories for Alonso this season, as Ferrari struggled to keep up with the Red Bulls for the rest of the season. The season ended particularly disappointing for Ferrari as they only scored one podium in the last six races. Alonso finished the season runner-up, his third second place in four years driving for Ferrari. Felipe Massa only scored one podium during the entire season (third in the Spanish GP) and finished eighth in the championship.

Answer: Mercedes

F1 regulations clearly forbid any testing during the season. However, teams can conduct a 1,000 km tyre test, provided they use a car that is at least three years old. Shortly after the Spanish Grand Prix the Mercedes team conducted a three-day test using their 2013 car. Pictures of this test emerged in the press shortly before the Monaco Grand Prix. The controversy increased when Mercedes (Rosberg) won the Monaco Grand Prix.

At an FIA tribunal later in the season Mercedes and Pirelli were found guilty of conducting an illegal tyre test. Mercedes was reprimanded and excluded from taking part in the young driver test. The verdict was generally seen as mild.

After Rosberg's victory in the Monaco Grand Prix Mercedes won two more races. Nico Rosberg won the British Grand Prix and Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix. Hamilton finished fourth in the drivers championship, Rosberg sixth. Mercedes finished runner-up in the constructors championship.

Answer: Fourth

Although McLaren had finished the 2012 season in good shape with two wins in the last two races they chose to build a completely new car for the 2013 season. This was a decision they soon came to regret as the new car wasn't competitive at all and remained poor for the whole season. For the first time since 1980 McLaren didn't score a single podium all season. Fourth was the best Jenson Button could manage, and he only accomplished that on the very last race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix. Sergio Perez had his best result in the Indian Grand Prix where he finished fifth.

In the constructors championship McLaren finished in fifth place as well.

Answer: Force India

Force India had a strong start to the season with 11 point finishes in the first eight races and an excellent fourth place with Paul di Resta in the Bahrain Grand Prix. They dropped back in the second part of the season with only six more point finishes in the next 11 races. Despite the disappointing second part of the season Force India was still the best midfield team with 77 points and a sixth place in the constructors championship.

By contrast Sauber made a poor start but they made up for that in the second half of the season. They had 11 points finishes, ten of those with Nico Hülkenberg behind the wheel. Their best result of the season came in the Korean Grand Prix where Hülkenberg finished fourth. Team mate Esteban Gutierrez only finished in the points once, with a seventh place in the Japanese Grand Prix. Sauber scored 57 points and finished seventh in the constructors championship.

Williams had a poor season overall with only two point finishes and five points in total. Pastor Maldonado only managed a tenth place in the Hungarian Grand Prix while rookie Valtteri Bottas had to wait until the penultimate race (USA) to score his first points by finishing eighth. Williams finished ninth in the constructors championship as they could only beat the two smallest teams, Marussia and Caterham, who didn't score any points at all.

Toro Rosso finished eighth in the constructors championship with 33 points. Their highlight came in the Canadian Grand Prix when Jean-Eric Vergne finished sixth.

Answer: Mark Webber

Mark Webber made his first steps in F1 as a test driver in 2000 and 2001, which he combined with driving in the F3000 series. After he had finished second in that series in 2001, Minardi gave him the chance to race in F1 for the 2002 season.

The 2002 Australian Grand Prix turned out to be an eventful race where Webber managed to score points in his first race by finishing fifth before his home crowd. After racing two years for both Jaguar and Williams he moved to Red Bull Racing in 2007, at the time still a midfield team.

After David Coulthard had retired at the end of the 2008 season Red Bull was joined by Sebastian Vettel in 2009. It was the start of Red Bull's meteoric rise to the top. Mark Webber won his first F1 race that season, the German Grand Prix, and finished fourth in the world championship. His best season came in 2010 when he came close to winning the world championship. A costly error during a rain-soaked Korean Grand Prix and an untimely pit stop in the final race destroyed his chances. Vettel took his first title that year, with Fernando Alonso second and Webber eventually finishing third. From 2011 on Vettel became too strong and Webber was relegated to playing second fiddle all too often. His already strained relationship with Vettel took a final blow with the "multi 21" controversy in the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix.

In total Mark Webber won nine Grand Prix, started from pole position 13 times and finished on the podium 42 times, but mostly he will be remembered for his great sportsmanship.

Answer: Heikki Kovalainen

Kimi Räikkönen was suffering from a back injury he had sustained in the beginning of his career. At first it seemed the surgery would happen after the season but it was brought forward to just after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Lotus test driver Davide Valsecchi or Nico Hülkenberg seemed to be the obvious choices but it was Caterham test driver and former GP winner Heikki Kovalainen who got the drive. Lotus motivated this by stating that Hülkenberg couldn't be released from his contract with Sauber and Valsecchi wasn't experienced enough.

After Kovalainen got the drive it was revealed that Lotus had asked Michael Schumacher to make a second comeback, but that he had declined. The choice for Kovalainen wasn't a success as he only finished in 14th place in both races.

Answer: 9

Vettel's winning spree started in the Belgian Grand Prix. Next he also won the eight remaining races of the season: Italy, Singapore, South-Korea, Japan, India, Abu Dhabi, USA and Brazil. After the Indian Grand Prix he had already wrapped up the drivers world championship with three races to spare. Earlier in the season he had already won four races (Malaysia, Bahrain, Canada and Germany). With 13 victories in total during a single year he equalled Michael Schumacher's record set in the 2004 season.

There is some disagreement if nine consecutive victories is a record, too. Some people claim that Alberto Ascari also won nine consecutive victories during the 1952 and '53 seasons. However, Ascari's run was interrupted by the 1953 Indianapolis Grand Prix. Ascari didn't take part, as did none of the European drivers in the 50s, but officially the Indianapolis 500 then was part of the F1 world championship. Therefore Vettel's nine consecutive victories can be considered a record.

Answer: Yes

Sebastian Vettel won his ninth consecutive victory, while Mark Webber finished second in his last Grand Prix before retirement. It was Red Bull's fourth double of the season. Two of them came in the last three races, giving further evidence of Red Bull's superiority. All doubles came with Sebastian Vettel coming first, with Mark Webber second, as Webber didn't win a race in his final season.