Tyres in Formula One Trivia Quiz

Answer: 4

Dunlop, Pirelli, Firestone, and Englebert supplied tyres to various teams and competitors during that first season of Formula One in 1950. Pirelli took the plaudits of winning the very first World Championship Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1950, while Firestone won the 1950 Indianapolis 500, the American race being included in the World Championship until 1960.

Answer: 1954

Continental entered Formula One at the 1954 French Grand Prix, supplying tyres for the Mercedes-Benz team. Fangio would take Mercedes and Continental to victory on their debut and Continental would eventually go on to take 9 victories in only 13 starts between 1954 and 1955, while they made one final appearance at the 1958 Argentine Grand Prix, also winning that thanks to Stirling Moss.

Answer: 0

Of the 9 companies that have supplied tyres in 58 years of Formula One, only Avon have competed without tasting success. During their time in the 1950s, Pirelli, Continental and Englebert were supplying tyres to successful Italian, German and French manufacturers. Avon only competed in seven races between 1954 and 1959. The same happened in the 1980s when Avon were drafted in to supply tyres when Goodyear temporarily withdrew from Formula One due to political issues ongoing at the time, with Avon supplying backmarker teams such as Engish, ATS and Theodore for a time before withdrawing completely from Formula One again at the end of 1981.

Answer: Michelin

Dunlop, Firestone and Goodyear all supplied tyres to Formula One during the 1960s with varying degrees of success, but the French manufacturer Michelin would not enter Formula One until 1977, when the supplied tyres exclusively to Renault for the first season before also choosing to supply Ferrari from 1978 onwards.

Answer: 1970 Belgian Grand Prix

Pedro Rodriguez, driving a B.R.M, won the final race for Dunlop in Formula One at the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix, also the final race to be held at the 'old' Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The British concern withdrew at the end of 1970 but did make an additional apperance at the 1976 and 1977 Japanese Grand Prix, when the tyres were used by privateers.

In total, Dunlop started 175 races, winning 83 of them while also winning 8 Drivers and 9 Constructors Championships.

Answer: 1991 Canadian Grand Prix

Besides taking the very first win in Formula One in 1950, the Italian manufacturer also won 6 Drivers World Championships. Their final three years in Formula One, between 1989 and 1991, were primarily supplying rear of the grid sides, and despite providing a sometimes excellent qualifying tyre, the teams were not good enough to take wins. That was until 1991, when Benetton chose to take on Pirelli tyres.

But the tyres were ill-suited to the Benetton chassis, and they were handed their final victory at the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix, when Nelson Piquet passed a faltering Nigel Mansell on the final lap to take his final victory in Grand Prix.

Answer: 109

With Pirelli's withdrawal at the end of 1991, Goodyear were left as the sole supplier in Formula One until Bridgestone joined at the beginning of 1997. The streak of Formula One has yet to be surpassed. Their streak was ended by Bridgestone at the 1998 Australian Grand Prix, and Goodyear withdrew from Formula One at the end of the 1998 season after 39 consecutive seasons of competition.
Goodyear competed in 494 Grand Prix, winning 368 races, 24 Drivers Championships and 26 Constructors Championships.

Answer: 49

Firestone's first 10 victories in the Formula One World Championship came at the Indianapolis 500 between 1950 - 1960, as they were the sole supplier of tyres at the American race. With Indianapolis withdrawn from the World Championship at the end of 1960, Firestone disappeared until 1966, when they returned to supply Ferrari, Lotus, Brabham and Jo Bonnier's Cooper.

The American company took three victories in that first season back and would eventually go on to win 4 Drivers and 3 Constructors Championships.

Answer: 1976 Japanese Grand Prix

Bridgestone made two minor forays into Formula One in the 1970s by supplying tyres to Japanese privateers at the 1976 and 1977 Japanese Grand Prix.
It would be another 20 years until Bridgestone entered Formula One in 1997, won their first race exactly a year after their debut and have since gone on to dominate Formula One racing.

Answer: Continental

Percentages are as follows:
Continental 76.9%
Goodyear 74.4%
Bridgestone 66.8%
Michelin 47.4%
Dunlop 47.4%
Firestone 40.5%
Pirelli 22%
Englebert 13.1%
Avon 0%
Continental have the best win percentage but it's slightly skewed as they won only 10 from 13, while Goodyear have 368 from 494. Avon have the worst with 0 from 29.