French Grand Prix: 100 Years Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ferenc Szisz

32 cars competed in the first Grand Prix at Le Mans, a circuit measuring over 100km in length. Unlike today's version of Grand Prix, the 32 cars at Le Mans started the race at 90 second intervals.
Szisz originally started at Renault as an engineer but soon made his way into the driving seat, and in 1905 competed in the Gordon Bennett Cup and Vanderbilt Cup for the French marque.
Szisz would earn himself a place in the history books with his victory at Le Mans in 1906, and would place second at the event held in Dieppe in 1907.

Answer: Lyon

The 1914 French Grand Prix took place only a week after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Serbia. The race took place under major nationalist feeling, particularly as the race would be between the French Peugeots and German Mercedes. A crowd of around 300,000 watched the race of 20 laps with 37 cars participating.

At the start, two of the five Mercedes cars took off into the lead, essentially being 'rabbit' cars, to force the field to keep up with the furious pace. When Max Sailer retired on lap six, Georges Boillot, French Grand Prix winner in 1912 and 1913, took the lead and held it for several laps. But, as he had to take 8 tyre stops compared to the one tyre stop of the Mercedes, eventually the three Mercedes of Christian Lautenschlager, Louis Wagner, and Otto Salzer overtook the failing Peugeot to take a Mercedes 1-2-3 in front of a stunned and silent French crowd. Boillot would retire on the final lap with engine failure, and collapse on the front of his stricken Peugeot, a broken man.

The French band refused to play the German national anthem and three weeks later, Europe was at war.

Answer: Duesenberg

Founded in 1913, Duesenberg first started racing at the Indianapolis 500 and in various events around the United States.
The 1921 race was back at Le Mans with Duesenberg arriving as the first American manufacturer to have a crack at European road-racing. To the surprise of all the European teams, Duesenberg won the French Grand Prix at their first attempt. Jimmy Murphy held off the Ballot's of Ralph de Palma and Jules Goux to take the first all-American victory in a Grand Prix.
Murphy would go on to win the 1922 Indianapolis 500, and would win the American National Championship twice before his tragic death in a dirt-track event in late 1924.

Answer: 3

The 100-lap race around the 5km track at Miramas saw only 3 cars start the race. The three cars entered were by Bugatti for drivers Jules Goux, Meo Costantini, and Pierre de Vizcaya. All other teams who had announced they would enter, were not ready for the race so the spectators had to settle with three cars trundling round.
Eventually only Goux would see the chequered flag, winning the French Grand Prix for the first time after coming close numerous times before.

Answer: Achille Varzi

1931 was the first year of the new European Championship, organised by the FIA, although at the time known as the 'Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus'. The Championship saw three events count towards the Championship, including the French Grand Prix. All Grand Prix were 10-hour events, so most teams entered two-driver teams to cope with the length of the races.
Louis Chiron, who had already won the 1931 Monaco Grand Prix, shared his Bugatti with upcoming Italian driver Achille Varzi, who had impressed many while driving for Alfa Romeo in 1929.

Answer: Hermann Paul Muller

From around 1935 to the outbreak of war, the two German teams of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union dominated motor racing in Europe. French and Italian teams still occasionally managed to take surprise wins every so often but they were the exception, not the norm. Hermann Paul Muller would win the 1939 French Grand Prix at Reims, and by finishing 2nd and 4th at two other events, was declared the 1939 European Champion under the old scoring system of fewest points gained in a year.

But this result has always been disputed, as the President of the German Racing Federation at the time declared Hermann Lang the European Champion under a different points system of scoring maximum points (similar to the current points system in Formula One).

Answer: True

Numerous drivers would win the French Grand Prix twice from the first race in 1906 to the final race in 1949 before the start of the Formula One World Championship in 1950. However, only Chiron who would win the race more than twice, by winning it five times in 1931, 1934, 1937, 1947 and 1949.
Felica Nazzaro (1907, 1922), Christian Lautenschlager (1908, 1914), Georges Boillot (1912, 1913), Robert Benoist (1925, 1927), Giuseppe Campari (1924, 1933), William Grover-Williams (1928, 1929), and Jean-Pierre Wimille (1936, 1948) all won the French Grand Prix twice.

Answer: Mike Hawthorn

In only his ninth Grand Prix, Mike Hawthorn battled with 1951 World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio for 60 laps at Reims to take his first Formula One victory. In over two and a half hours of racing, the Ferrari of Hawthorn and the Maserati's of Fangio and Gonzalez, were never more than one or two seconds apart, with Ferrari teammate Ascari never more than another four or five seconds further back.

The pace was frenetic from the start with Hawthorn and Fangio continuing to change places every lap. It came down to the last lap and last corner.

It was the British novice got the better of his experienced Argentine foe to cross the line to take the chequered flag and become the first British winner in Formula One.

Answer: Porsche

Porsche had entered Formula One as a constructor in 1961 with the 718. Although the new car was initially competitive, it was heavy and out-dated compared to newer machinery from Ferrari, Lotus, and B.R.M. However, despite the problems, Gurney still managed three excellent second places in the new 1.5 litre formula for 1961.
An all new car, the 804 in 1962, proved to be far more competitive. But Dan Gurney's victory at Rouen was still something of a surprise as the American had yet to finish a race before his win.

Answer: Le Mans Bugatti

Grand Prix returned to Le Mans in 1967, but not on the fearsome circuit used for the famous 24 hour race. Instead, a new circuit named the 'Le Mans Bugatti' was used for the 1967 French Grand Prix. From the start it was unpopular with the drivers, as the circuit was regarded as boring and not difficult to drive. The crowds also stayed away, and Formula One never returned after 1967.
For the record, Jack Brabham won the 1967 race in his Brabham-Repco, leading home his teammate Denny Hulme.

Answer: Jackie Stewart

After the demise of circuits such as Reims and Rouen, the French Grand Prix continued to look for a permanent home. One was found on the outskirts of Marseille at the Circuit Paul Ricard, which would eventually become the semi-permanent home of the race until 1990. Paul Ricard was built in 1970, and at the time was considered one of the safest circuits in Europe.

It was known for the mile long Mistral Straight, which led into the extremely quick Signes corner. It certainly separated the men from the boys. Jackie Stewart won the first race in Paul Ricard in 1971, leading home his French teammate Francois Cevert in a Tyrrell-Ford 1-2.

Answer: First win for Michelin tyres

The 1979 French Grand Prix was a real red letter day for France. A Frenchman, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, driving a French car on French tyres, powered by French fuel, won the French Grand Prix at Dijon. It was the first win for Renault in Formula One. It was also the first win for the turbocharged engine Renault had pioneered in 1977. Within 5 years, turbocharged engines would go on to dominate Formula One.
Most fans remember the 1979 French Grand Prix for the fabulous battle between Rene Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve over the closing laps, as the two drivers traded places time and again. At times they even touched, but as Arnoux stated after the race, he never feared Villeneuve would fight dirty. It's rightly been described as one of the greatest Formula One battles.
It was not the first win for Michelin though, as Carlos Reutemann in a Ferrari on Michelin tyres won the 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Answer: False

Alain Prost won the French Grand Prix in 1981, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1993. Two wins were with Renault in 1981 and 1983. Three were with McLaren from 1988-1990. One was with Williams in 1993.
The 1981 victory was at Dijon. His other victories were at Paul Ricard, except for his final victory in 1993 at Magny Cours.

Answer: Rubens Barrichello and Heinz Harald Frentzen

Wet weather experts came to the fore in qualifying for the 1999 French Grand Prix, with Rubens Barrichello taking his first pole since the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix. Jean Alesi qualified second in his Sauber ahead of the Prost of Olivier Panis.
The race saw a great scrap between Hakkinen's McLaren, Frentzen's Jordan, and for a time the Stewart of Barrichello. It was eventually a great strategy call by the Jordan team during a safety car that saw Frentzen take a fine victory.

Answer: Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher won an unprecedented 8 French Grand Prix. All were won at Magny-Cours.
His first win was in 1994 driving a Benetton-Ford. He won for the same constructor in 1995, though this time powered by a Renault engine.
His next six victories were all in a Ferrari in 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, and finally 2006.
His victory in 2002 also saw him wrap up his fifth Drivers Championship, the earliest a driver had ever secured the title.
Schumacher's record of 8 wins in France is a record for the number of victories by a driver at a single race in Formula One.