Motorsports Trivia Thread!

[Jimlaad43]

Bottas having that many qualifying records is a pleasant surprise.

He holds the records at:
Austin
Baku
Catalunya 2019
Imola
Istanbul
Nurburgring
Red Bull Ring
Sakhir (Outer)

Being in the dominant Mercedes 2019 and 2020 cars which visited 27 circuit layouts and scored 19 of those records definitely helped, but through all those years paired with Lewis he did prove to be a pretty effective qualifier.

 

[Pupik]

Bottas having that many qualifying records is a pleasant surprise.

Records like this always tilt towards more recent events, but also strike against the attempts or formula changes to slow cars down (1961, 1987-1988, 2022).

1987 is weird because there were lots of race lap records broken, but less so in qualifying, since the turbo boost was restricted to 4.0 bar pressure. It's said that the power peaks of 750-900hp were more common than the 1000+ of before, there were no more qualifying tires, but a lot of work went into chassis and aero. 1988 isn't as surprising, since the 2.5 bar limit dropped the turbo cars back down to 600-650hp.

2004 is an oddity, but maybe Schumi just wasn't trying as hard in a dominant car. Was there another rule change that year which I'm forgetting?

 

[Jimlaad43]

Quite a lot of the 2004 layouts stayed unchanged until 2016, which was when those qualifying records started being beaten. Albert Park, Sepang, Sakhir, Nurburgring, Montreal, Hockenheim, Hungaroring, Monza, Shanghai, Suzuka and Interlagos all have the same layout in 2004 and at least one year from 2017-2021, which then saw their 2004 lap records beaten. This leaves only 7 tracks left for the Ferrari, of which it was on pole for only two of them - Barcelona and Indianapolis. Barcelona's lap was beaten by Alonso in 2006, meaning Rubens Barrichello's 1:10.223 at Indianapolis is the only outright qualifying lap record set by the F2004! Despite scoring 8 Pole Positions in the fastest car in race trim, Micheal Schumacher scored no qualifying lap records with the F2004.


1950's: 13 records
1960's: 14 records
1970's: 31 records
1980's: 28 records
1990's: 31 records
2000's: 16 records
2010's: 23 records
2020's: 20 records (+3 guaranteed in 2023 with Catalunya, Marina Bay and Las Vegas)

 

[Jimlaad43]

The fact that Valencia wins this poll shows just how bad these other two are for Formula 1 racing.

 

[Liquid]

Open Question

From 1992-1995 McLaren had four different engine suppliers consecutively.

1992 McLaren Honda
1993 McLaren Ford
1994 McLaren Peugeot
1995 McLaren Mercedes-Benz

I'm sure it can be matched but can it be beaten? Probably sometime before the 1970s but I can't think off the top of my head.

How does it compare in other open wheel series?

Rebadged engines like Mecachrome and Supertec don't count nor do sponsored engine names like Playlife, which were Mecachrome-built, Supertec-distributed engines anyway. Sauber's Ilmor engines were Mercedes-Benz engines. I'm talking different engine suppliers.

 

[Kingofweasles]

Open Question

From 1992-1995 McLaren had four different engine suppliers consecutively.

1992 McLaren Honda
1993 McLaren Ford
1994 McLaren Peugeot
1995 McLaren Mercedes-Benz

I'm sure it can be matched but can it be beaten? Probably sometime before the 1970s but I can't think off the top of my head.

How does it compare in other open wheel series?

Rebadged engines like Mecachrome and Supertec don't count nor do sponsored engine names like Playlife, which were Mecachrome-built, Supertec-distributed engines anyway. Sauber's Ilmor engines were Mercedes-Benz engines. I'm talking different engine suppliers.

Well, Tyrrell in the early 1990s can match this.

1990 Tyrrell Ford
1991 Tyrrell Honda
1992 Tyrrell Ilmor
1993 Tyrrell Yamaha

But I struggle to think of a team that went through FIVE different engine manufacturers in five seasons.

 

[Pupik]

In just three years...

1966 McLaren M1B Ford (not DFV)
1966 McLaren M1B Serenissima
1967 McLaren M4 BRM
1968 McLaren M7A Cosworth DFV

There's probably some non-works Coopers from the 1960s that tried every other engine but Coventry-Climax but that's likely not the same team.

 

[Greycap]

If a slight bending of the rules is allowed, McLaren in 1966-1970 went through five engine suppliers in five years - but two of them indeed were in 1966 and 1968-1969 were both with the Cosworth. However, in 1970 there was the Alfa Romeo engined M7D. So perhaps not five consecutive years with different engine manufacturers, but indeed five engines in five years.

 

[Roo]

Open Question

From 1992-1995 McLaren had four different engine suppliers consecutively.

1992 McLaren Honda
1993 McLaren Ford
1994 McLaren Peugeot
1995 McLaren Mercedes-Benz

I know it never raced, but as I'm sure you're aware a McLaren Lamborghini was built and tested toward the end of 1993. So... 4 and a half?

Ligier managed Renault - Megatron (BMW) - Judd - Ford Cosworth from '86 to '89.

Notable but not entirely helpful is that Arrows/Footwork went from Ford in 1990 to Porsche for the first half of 1991, back to Ford for the second half, then had Mugen Honda for '92.

 

[Liquid]

The closest I have found in American open wheel racing is Penske. They overlapped and competed in both CART and the IRL in 2001 before withdrawing from CART and used three different engines in three years in the IRL. Coupled with their other engines in CART, they can make it to four in four years.

2000 Penske Honda
2001 Penske Honda (CART)
2001 Penske Oldsmobile (IRL)
2002 Penske Chevrolet
2003 Penske Toyota

Edit: Arrows equalled it in their final four years.

1999 Arrows (in-house but essentially Hart engines)
2000 Arrows Supertec (old Renault engines)
2001 Arrows Asiatech (old Peugeot engines)
2002 Arrows Ford

 

[Liquid]

Name Translations

Just for fun, here are some Anglosphere Formula One drivers translated into some of the languages I can speak, done so as appropriately as possible as names. How many can you work out? Guessing what Marek and Juraj might be the equivalent of will help but going straight to Google takes some of the fun away.

German
Jens Knopf
Ludwig Humberstein

Dutch
Michiel Haagdoorn
Jaap Klerk

Slovak
Marek Tkáč
Juraj Červen

 

[Barra333]

Graham Hill?
Lewis Hamilton

?
Jim Clark

Mark Webber?
?

 

[-Fred-]

Jenson Button
Lewis Hamilton

Jim Clark
Mark Webber
George Russell (Thanks to Montreal Canadiens player Juraj Slavkofsky I've learned recently Juraj translates in English to George, so that one was easy)

 

[Liquid]

Graham Hill?
Lewis Hamilton

?
Jim Clark

Mark Webber?
?

Jenson Button
Lewis Hamilton

Jim Clark
Mark Webber
George Russell (Thanks to Montreal Canadiens player Juraj Slavkofsky I've learned recently Juraj translates in English to George, so that one was easy)

German
Jens Knopf - Jenson Button (Jenson is extremely unusual but Knopf literally means Button)
Ludwig Humberstein - Lewis Hamilton (Hamilton most likely originates as Humber's Stone)

Dutch
Michiel Haagdoorn - ???
Jaap Klerk - Jim Clark (Jakob is James, Jaap is Jim)

Slovak
Marek Tkáč - Mark Webber (Tkáč means Weaver, which is where Webber comes from via a German retranslation)
Juraj Červen - George Russell (Červene means red, where Russell means 'red haired')

By the way, the kids I teach love Slavkofsky.

 

[Barra333]

I just got the last one, but cheated on the translation of doorn, so I won't post.

 

[DK]

Is it Michael Andretti?

 

[Liquid]

Is it Michael Andretti?

It isn't but the first name is correct.

 

[DK]

Is it Mike Thackwell?

 

[Liquid]

No.

 

[Wiegert]

Mike Hawthorn?

 

[Liquid]

Mike Hawthorn?

Correct!

German
Jens Knopf - Jenson Button (Jenson is extremely unusual but Knopf literally means Button)
Ludwig Humberstein - Lewis Hamilton (Hamilton most likely originates as Humber's Stone)

Dutch
Michiel Haagdoorn - Mike Hawthorn (Hawthorn means 'Hedge Thorn')
Jaap Klerk - Jim Clark (Jakob is James, Jaap is Jim)

Slovak
Marek Tkáč - Mark Webber (Tkáč means Weaver, which is where Webber comes from via a German retranslation)
Juraj Červen - George Russell (Červene means red, where Russell means 'red haired')

 

[Liquid]

Patrese still holds the record of 6.5 years between wins. It's possible for that to be broken this year.

 

[Liquid]

Can you name a Formula One racewinner by surname starting with each letter of the alphabet?

You have two minutes. I tried this myself after knowing the premise and before actually watching.

Spoiler: My Answers

There are no answers for E, Q, U, X, Y nor Z. My score was 16/20.


ALONSO
BERGER
COULTHARD
D

FANGIO
GINTHER
HAKKINEN
ICKX
JONES
K
LECLERC
MOSS
N
OCON
PIQUET

ROSBERG
SCHUMACHER
TAMBAY

VILLENEUVE
W

The official Grill The Grid video can be found on this link:

 

[RACECAR]

Lady: "Are you ready?"
Albon: "Nope. Lets go"

Oh hey, its young me when it came to final exams

 

[Liquid]

I have been a teammate of David Coulthard, Laurent Aïello, Enrique Bernoldi and Ivan Capelli.

Who am I?

 

[Pete05]

I have been a teammate of David Coulthard, Laurent Aïello, Enrique Bernoldi and Ivan Capelli.

Who am I?

Anthony Reid?

 

[Liquid]

Anthony Reid?

He is not the driver I have but if you can prove it your own way...

 

[MagpieRacer]

I have been a teammate of David Coulthard, Laurent Aïello, Enrique Bernoldi and Ivan Capelli.

Who am I?

Michael Bartels

Coulthard - Pacific F3000 1993
Capelli - Nissan Racing Super Tourenwagen 1994
Aiello - Peugeot Sport Super Tourenwagen 1998
Bernoldi - Vitafone Racing FIA GT1 2010

 

[Liquid]

Michael Bartels

Coulthard - Pacific F3000 1993
Capelli - Nissan Racing Super Tourenwagen 1994
Aiello - Peugeot Sport Super Tourenwagen 1998
Bernoldi - Vitafone Racing FIA GT1 2010

Perfect!

 

[Liquid]

Brabham was the last one-car team in Formula One. At their final event, the 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix, Eric van de Poele did not attend and only Damon Hill was entered. He finished 11th.