The Checkered Flag Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nigel Mansell

Prost held the lead on lap 74/76 before the rain caused him to spin and crash out at Chicane du Port. Patrese inherited the lead, but he spun at Loew's corner, leading to his car stalling. Pironi made the pass for the lead but ran out of fuel later in the lap.
Also leading the race were Andrea de Cesaris (ran out of fuel) and Derek Daly (damage). Patrese eventually won the race after a bump-start by rolling downhill.

Answer: Nicola Larini

Larini finished in second place, the first of his two career points finishes.
Wendlinger tied his career best finish by crossing the line in 4th, 3 seconds behind Mika Hakkinen. Katayama also tied his career best with a 5th place finish.

Comas was disqualified for re-entering the track during the red flag for Senna's fatal crash, a move that commentator John Watson described as "the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen at any time in my life".

Answer: David Coulthard

Coulthard switched to using one of Michael Schumacher's helmets because of visibility problems caused by fog on his visor. Panis won the race with Coulthard finishing second and Hebert third. Frentzen pulled into pit lane on what would be the penultimate lap (he was running fourth at the time anyway).

Answer: Ferrari were awarded the largest fine in Formula One history

Despite Michael Schumacher's effort to crash Jacques Villeneuve, Ferrari would not be fined. Schumacher, however, was forced to relinquish his second place finish in the driver's championship.

At the podium ceremony, confusion surrounding the ending of the race caused a delay during the presentation of the trophies. The FIA saw this delay as an embarrassment, and president Max Moseley vowed, "No further rounds of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship will be held at the Jerez circuit." In 2006, former Sauber driver Norberto Fontana accused Ferrari of initiating orders to block Villeneuve so that Schumacher could win the championship.

Answer: First pole for Stewart

Rubens Barrichello (driving for the Stewart team) won the pole in a crazy qualifying session that saw championship contenders Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, and Eddie Irvine qualify 6th, 14th, and 17th respectively.

Jordan did claim the victory through Heinz-Herald Frentzen, but it was the team's second victory (the first was by Damon Hill at the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix). Schumacher finished the race fifth and would suffer his broken leg at the next round in Britain. Toranosuke Takagi was disqualified for using Arrows teammate Pedro de la Rosa's tires, but he would not have finished in the points.

Answer: The first ever drive-through penalty

Juan Montoya was controversially given the first drive-through penalty after a collision involving he and Michael Schumacher.

Heinz-Herald Frentzen did stall at the start of the formation lap, but he was able to get the car fired up in time for the start. Four years prior, the steward (Nazir Hoosein) had his license suspended for one year. However, he was licensed for the Malaysian Grand Prix. There were no protests during this race.

Answer: Bad tires

This race was famous for its tire debacle: Michelin drivers could not continually handle the banked Turn 13 without significant degradation and were concerned over the safety of the drivers and fans. Only Ferrari, Jordan, and Minardi raced - twenty cars entered the race but only six started.

Answer: Timo Glock

Hamilton was locked in a fierce battle with Vettel for fifth place until the pair passed Glock, who was attempting to finish on dry tires (it was raining at the end of the race). Both passed Glock, and Hamilton allowed Vettel to drive away because he achieved the position required to win the championship.
Kovalainen was Hamilton's teammate, but he was too far back to be of any assistance to Hamilton. Webber finished the race in ninth and out of the points.

Answer: Misleading the Stewards

Trulli was originally cited for passing Hamilton during the finish, but Hamilton's disqualification nullified Trulli's penalty and allowed the Italian to earn a podium finish (Hamilton was disqualified for misleading the stewards during the post-race enquiry) . While Hamilton aggressively picked his way through the field, he did not initiate contact or perform any overly dangerous moves.

Answer: Wreck caused by use of the Drag Reduction System (DRS)

Despite the controversy surrounding the legalization of DRS on the relatively short pit straight, no accidents were directly caused by the system.

[ o ] In the third qualifying session, Sergio Perez lost control of the car upon exiting the tunnel. This incident caused a stoppage in the session as the safety crew had to extract Perez from the car. Perez would not compete in the race after medics deemed him "too unfit."
[ o ] On lap 32, a series of events led to the deployment of the safety car. Included in these events was an airbox fire on Michael Schumacher's car. Schumacher would retire from the race immediately.
[ o ] Six laps from the finish, a massive wreck occurred after Adrian Sutil suffered a tire puncture. This wreck led to a red flag while track personnel worked to liberate Vitaly Petrov from his car.
Sebastien Vettel would win the race.