Lotus for the Win! Trivia Quiz

Jim Clark (1936-1968) heads the list with 25 wins and 274 points whilst driving for Lotus, from 72 starts. This, in fact, was the entire F1 career of the Scotsman, stretching from his debut at the 1960 Dutch Grand Prix until the 1968 South African GP, which he won, on New Year's Day. The next race was not scheduled for several months, and Clark opted to participate in some Formula 2 races in the meantime. It was at one of these, at the Hockenheimring in (West) Germany, that he suffered a fatal accident, robbing the racing world of this two-time world champion (1963 and 1965).

Record with Lotus: 25 wins, 274 points, 2 world championships

American driver Mario Andretti scored 11 of his 12 Grand Prix victories with Lotus, and 147 of his 180 total points. Six of those wins came during his World Championship winning season in 1978, driving for John Player Team Lotus, with the nifty black and gold paint job. He spent a lot of time racing in US based series, yet still managed 128 F1 starts between 1968 and 1982, 79 of them with Lotus, with the rest split (mostly) between Ferrari, Parnelli Jones and Alfa Romeo.

Record with Lotus: 11 wins, 147 points, 1 world championship

When he won the 1972 World Drivers' Championship in his JPS Lotus, Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi became the (then) youngest driver to accomplish that feat, at age 25. He went on to become champion again in 1974, by which time he had moved to McLaren. Five of his nine race wins for Lotus came in the 1972 season. Of his overall total of 281 points, 144 came with Lotus, while his race victories totalled 14 (nine with Lotus).

The spiffy black and gold livery of the JPS Lotus is known to have suggested to one young F1 fan, already tempted by the devil tobacco, to choose that brand in order to "support Emerson". (The young person, older and wiser having given up tobacco, is the author of this quiz.)

Record with Lotus: 9 wins, 144 points, 1 world championship

Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson (1944-1978) matched Emerson Fittipaldi during his time at Lotus, with nine race wins and 144 points, in his case from 59 starts. In an F1 career that began in 1969, Ronnie drove for a number of teams other than Lotus, including March and Tyrrell, amassing an overall total of 10 wins and 206 points. He had returned to Lotus in 1978, after a stint at Tyrrell, even picking up a couple of wins during Andretti's championship season. It was at Monza (Italy) that year that racing lost another bright star, when Ronnie succumbed to injuries suffered in a first corner accident.

Record with Lotus: 9 wins, 144 points

Superstar Ayrton Senna's glory years came with McLaren, after his three years as a Lotus driver, 1985-1987 inclusive. Whilst at Lotus he put together six race victories and 150 points, from 48 starts. Prior to that, at Toleman, his best finish had been a second place at the 1984 Monaco GP.

After the move to McLaren he won three World Championships (1988, 1990, 1991) and ran his grand total up to 41 wins and 614 points. His move to Williams for the 1994 season was expected to bring even more success, but this was not to be. I won't go into great detail about the dreadful weekend at Imola in May of that year, that took Roland Ratzenberger as well as Senna.

Record at Lotus: 6 wins, 150 points

Austrian Jochen Rindt (1942-1970) is remembered for being the first driver to become World Champion posthumously, having amassed an insurmountable points total before his fatal incident at the 1970 Italian GP at Monza. He was in his second year with Lotus at the time, having earlier driven for Walker, Cooper and Brabham (1964-68), without finishing better than second, which he did several times. With Lotus he had either five or six wins, depending on one's source, and 67 points.

His career points total was 109. The win count discrepancy (5 per Classic Team Lotus website; 6 per Wikipedia and at least one hardcopy source) doesn't alter his placement in this quiz, using his points with Lotus as the tie-breaker.

Record with Lotus: 5 wins (possibly 6), 67 points

Graham Hill (1929-1975), an Englishman, had two stints with Lotus. The first in 1958-59 produced no significant results, being his inaugural seasons in the sport. He spent the next several seasons at BRM, winning his first World Championship with them in 1962. Rejoining Lotus in 1967, Hill went on to win his second championship in 1968, despite having only 3 race victories that year. His fourth win in a Lotus came in 1969, and was the last win of his career. Graham's career totals were 14 wins and 289 points.

He continued racing, with Walker, Brabham and his own Embassy team until 1975. In November of that year, piloting his own small aeroplane home from a testing session in France, Graham Hill lost control and crashed, killing himself, young driver Tony Brise and other members of their racing team.

Record at Lotus: 4 wins, 89 points, 1 world championship

Italian driver Elio de Angelis (1958-1986) scored most of his points and his only two wins in his years at Lotus, from 1980 to 1985. His only other points came from a fourth place finish (then worth three points) in his first year of F1, with Shadow, at the 1979 US GP East. His wins came at the 1982 Austrian GP and the 1985 San Marino race at Imola. He had moved to Brabham for the 1986 season, which was cut short when he suffered a fatal accident during testing at the Paul Ricard circuit in France in May of that year.

Record with Lotus: 2 wins, 119 points

Innes Ireland (1930-1993) was born in Yorkshire to a Scottish family, and spent some of his youth in Scotland. Before going racing he was a serving officer in the British army. His F1 career began in 1959, with Lotus, where he stayed through 1961. He chalked up his only victory in his last race with Lotus, the 1961 US GP at Watkins Glen, New York. He continued to race, with other teams, until 1966, bringing his point total up to 47 along the way, but never managing better than fourth place after leaving Lotus. He went on to a career as a journalist, succumbing to cancer at the age of 63.

Record with Lotus: 1 win, 37 points

Swedish driver Gunnar Nilsson (1948-1978) only had two seasons in Formula 1, both with Lotus; 1976 and 1977. His single victory was at the Belgian GP in 1977, and he had three other podium finishes, all third place. He had been set to move to Arrows for the following season, but a cancer diagnosis in the off season caused him to resign to seek treatment. Ultimately this was unsuccessful, and Gunnar Nilsson died of cancer in October 1978.

Record with Lotus: 1 win, 31 points