Formula One: Designed to Win Trivia Quiz

Answer: Adrian Newey

Adrian Newey is arguably one of the greatest designers in the history of Formula One. Having worked as a race engineer to begin, he has generally worked as an aerodynamicist, designer or technical director. His first winning car was the 1992 Williams FW14B, which romped to the 1992 World Championship for Drivers and Constructors. His designs won further titles in 1993 (both), 1994 (Constructors), 1996 (both) and 1997 (both), though he had left Williams prior to the 1997 season.

He moved to McLaren for the 1998 season, helping design the MP4/13, which won both titles, and the MP/14, which won the drivers title in 1999. But while his designs were often fast, the cars could prove unreliable at times, though he remained innovative. Joining Red Bull in 2006, he had to wait until 2009 to taste victory with the RB5, but from then until 2013, Red Bull were unstoppable, winning four consecutive driver and constructors titles.

His list of innovations over the years are simply too many to mention. If you're a recent F1 fan and hear about a 'blown diffuser' in conversation, you can thank Mr. Newey for that!

Answer: Colin Chapman

Colin Chapman was nothing short of a genius and his loss in 1982, at the age of only 54, was felt by the sport for many years, in particular Lotus, who never really recovered. Founding the Lotus Cars company in 1952, Chapman was soon bitten by the racing bug, and the first Lotus Formula One cars appeared on the grid in 1958.

The Lotus 18 was the first rear-engined car designed by Chapman, though it was an idea pioneered by Cooper. It's successor, the Lotus 21, was moderately successful, but it was the sleek and agile Lotus 25 that propelled Lotus to the front. A gorgeous machine, it was the first Formula One car to feature a monocoque chassis, which made it stronger than the tubular framed machines. The car was so competitive, it was used by Team Lotus from 1962 to 1965, winning two Drivers and Constructors titles.

In 1967, the Lotus 49 arrived, powered by the Ford Cosworth DFV. Despite the tragic loss of Jim Clark, it won both titles in 1968, and by this year, Chapman was starting to experiment with aerofoil wings, which are now a standard feature of Formula One cars. In 1970, he designed the Lotus 72, which features numerous innovative design features, but it was the 'wedge' shape of the car itself which made it distinctive. The Lotus 72 was so competitive, it raced for 6 seasons in various configurations.

In 1978, he designed perhaps his most remembered car. The Lotus 78, followed by the Lotus 79, were the first 'wing car' or ground effects cars designed for Formula One. Explaining ground effects could take ten thousand words. Put simply, the design of the car allowed it to be sucked to the ground. The Lotus 79 was an evolution of the idea, and dominated the latter part of the 1978 season. One of his last innovations was a car that never raced, the Lotus 88, which was his first all carbon fibre car, and it featured a unique 'twin chassis'. The FIA took one look at the car and banned it. He was working on active suspension development when he passed away in December 1982.

Answer: Gordon Murray

Hailing from South Africa, Murray travelled to the UK in 1969 hoping to get a job at Lotus. While that didn't work out, he was offered a job by Ron Tauranac, then designer at the Brabham team. When Brabham and Tauranac sold the team to Bernie Ecclestone in 1971, he was made chief designer, and was soon responsible for some of the most innovative F1 car of the 1970s and 1980s. Highlights in the Brabham BT46B, dubbed the 'fan car', which won the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix before it was withdrawn. It was never actually banned, but it was likely FISA would have banned it eventually.

Two of his cars did win championships for Brabham, the BT49 in 1981, and the BT52 in 1983. In 1982, he pioneered the re-introduction of race re-fuelling, so the BT50 of 1982 and BT52 of 1983 had a smaller fuel tank. For 1986, he designed the BT55, the radically low car which had the drivers practically lying down in the cockpit. It was not competitive, though this was later found out to be due to the engine and not the design.

Though he planned to retire, he was convinced to join McLaren from 1987, and he took the design of the BT55 with him. Though not chief designer at McLaren, the McLaren MP4/4 is the BT55 in new colours, a sleeker design, and a better engine. It was utterly dominant, winning 15 of 16 races and both championships in 1988. He left the Formula One arm of the McLaren team in 1991, but helped design the McLaren F1 supercar and also the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.

Answer: John Barnard

The John Barnard designed McLaren MP4/1 was the first Formula One car to be designed purely from carbon fibre composites as it was believed it would be stronger and safer than previous designs. This fact was proven during the 1981 Italian Grand Prix, when Watson survived an enormous shunt exiting the second Lesmo. Barnard was the man who helped design McLaren cars that won titles in 1984, 1985 and 1986 before he left for Ferrari in 1987. All cars are now designed with carbon fibre composite and has likely saved numerous lives over the years.

For 1989, he was the man who pioneered the semi-automatic gearbox (paddles behind the steering wheel shift up and down) and designed the gorgeous Ferrari 640. Terribly unreliable in testing, it miraculously won on its debut in the hands of Nigel Mansell at the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix. All cars now feature semi-automatic gearboxes, standard since the mid-1990s.

After Ferrari, Barnard joined Benetton, laying the foundations for their successes in 1994 and 1995, before returning to Ferrari, with his last car design being the F310B in 1997.

Answer: McLaren

Brunner is regarded as one of the best designers in Formula One, particularly when working for teams with smaller budgets. His first role was with ATS in the 1980s, designing two cars for the team, before joining RAM Racing in 1985.

He designed the Rial ARC1 for the 1988 season, de Cesaris taking a sensational 4th place in Detroit, though after a falling out with the team principal, Gunter Schmid, he moved to Zakspeed for 1989. That team folded at the end of the season, so it was off to Leyton House for 1990, working alongside Adrian Newey, before he moved to Minardi in 1993, helping design the M193, one of their most successful cars. He spent time at Ferrari between 1994-1996 before returning to Minardi in 1997, becoming technical director in 1999.

Brunner won enormous praise at Minardi for his designs despite the lack of success in terms of points, which can be said for most of the cars he designed. Most teams he joined lacked budget but his cars were always neat and as competitive as possible, using any innovation possible. He joined the new Toyota team in 2001 but departed at the end of 2005.

Answer: Harvey Postlethwaite

'Doc' Postlethwaite's first Formula One car, the Hesketh 308, was immediately competitive, and development of it saw James Hunt take a win at the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix. Hesketh shut his team at the end of 1975, so 'Doc' moved to the Wolf-Williams team. He helped design the Wolf WR1, which won on its debut at the 1977 Argentinian Grand Prix, with Jody Scheckter, and with two more wins, Scheckter finished runner-up to Niki Lauda. Leaving Wolf for Fittipaldi did not prove a success, but a move to Ferrari during 1981 did.

His Ferrari 126C2 in 1982 was the best all-round car on the grid, powerful but its ground effects also worked. In a tragic year, the team lost out on the Drivers but took the Constructors title, which it would repeat in 1983. He remained with Ferrari until 1987, when he moved to Tyrrell. His Tyrrell 018, for the 1990 season, was a brilliant little car, allowing Jean Alesi to take second in Phoenix, and the Tyrrell 019, which took second in Monaco.

Moving to Sauber for 1991, who were preparing to enter in 1993, he designed the teams first Formula One car, the C12, before returning to Tyrrell in 1994, where he remained until 1998. Hired as a technical director by Honda in 1999, it's still not known if Honda were serious in joining as a constructor or not for the 2000 season. But when Postlethwaithe passed away during testing in Spain in the April of 1999, Honda abandoned the project.

Answer: Lotus

Ducarouge designed cars for Matra in the late 1960s, including the MS80, that won the 1969 titles with Jackie Stewart. In addition to Formula One, he also designed Matra sports cars, which won a hat-trick of victories at Le Mans from 1972-74. After Matra pulled out of Formula One, he switched to the new French outfit, Ligier, where he remained until mid-1981. The JS5 of 1976 was immediately competitive, the team winning its first race in 1977 thanks to the JS7. The JS11 in 1979 was the most competitive car yet, with 3 wins and 3rd in the Constructors Championship, followed by 2 wins and 2nd in 1980.

After a brief stint at Alfa Romeo, Ducarouge joined the Lotus team in 1983. His first car, the Lotus 94T, was designed and built within five weeks, and his follow-up, the 95T for 1984, was considered the finest chassis of the year. A certain Ayrton Senna joined in 1985, and he took victory in the 97T at the Portuguese Grand Prix. Ducarouge continued the work of Colin Champman, eventually designing the 99T for 1987, the first Formula One car to feature active suspension. The 100T for 1988 was not as competitive, and Ducarouge eventually resigned his role with the team, his designs having taken seven victories between 1984-87. He joined the Larrousse team in 1989, helping develop the Lola chassis the team used, before he re-joined Ligier in 1991, remaining until 1994, which he left Formula One design behind, though remained involved with the sport until his death in 2015.

Answer: March

Max Mosley (M), Alan Rees (A,R), Graham Coaker (C) and Robin Herd (H) were the founder of March Engineering. The idea behind March was simple. Design simple but quick cars that could be purchased by anyone who wished to race while providing a budget for the factory March team to compete. Though immediately competitive in 1970 and 1971, thanks to the March 701 in 1970, and the March 711 in 1971, the one factor March consistently struggled with was finance. Having arrived in 1970, the March team fell further and further down the grid until disappearing at the end of 1977, the only respite being the March 761 for 1976, which proved somewhat competitive thanks to Ronnie Peterson.

Reappearing briefly in 1981 and 1982, they returned full-time in 1987 thanks to funding from Leyton House, where Robin sold his shares in the team in 1989 and left Formula One. March also branched out into other categories, including Indycar, a category it dominated during the 1980s, more through number of teams using its chassis, providing much needed funds, rather than outright success. A March chassis won the Indianapolis 500 every year between 1983-87. One year, March provided chassis for 30 of the 33 starters such was their competitiveness and also price.

Answer: Rory Byrne

Bryne had a long, successful career before joining Ferrari. His first foray was with the Toleman team in 1981. His first two designs struggled for competitiveness due to a lack of budget, but TG183, introduced at the end of 1982 for the 1983 season, was a step in the right direction. A young Brazilian named Ayrton Senna joined for 1984, and the new TG184, introduced at the French Grand Prix, was instantly on the pace, Senna scoring 3 podiums. Bryne stayed with the team as it metamorphosised into Benetton prior to the 1986 season. With BMW turbo power and more finances, his B186 took victory at the Mexican Grand Prix, the first chassis of his design to take victory.

He remained with Benetton through to the end of 1996, except for a brief foray at Reynard in 1991. His cars were generally competitive, elegant, making the most of the budget provided, which was smaller than heavyweights such as Williams, McLaren and Ferrari. His B194 in 1994, however, was class of the field, a nimble chassis, a reliable if slightly underpowered engine, and Michael Schumacher taking the Drivers Championship. The B195 was even more competitive, now with Renault power, taking 11 wins in 17 races.

Bryne was considering retirement at the end of 1996 but was lured to Ferrari alongside old friend Ross Brawn. His designs from 2000 to 2004 won every title possible, and his F2002 and F2004 designs are two of the most dominant cars in F1 history. At the end of 2006, he announced his retirement again from Formula One, though he has returned as a consultant from time to time since though never in a full-time capacity.

Answer: Sir Patrick Head

Frank Williams and Patrick Head formed the team in 1977. The first car of his design for the 1978 season, the FW06, was a simple but effective car, though it suffered the usual teething and reliability issues any new car suffered. For 1979, he designed the FW07, which was a monumental step forward in competitiveness, making great use of ground effects pioneered by Lotus, and only early season unreliability prevented Jones competing for the title. Williams would go on to become of the forces in the early and mid-1980s. With the FW07B, an evolution of the 1979 car, Jones would win the Drivers Championship, Williams their first Constructors. Further titles followed in 1982 (Drivers), 1986 (Constructors) and 1987 (both).

With Adrian Newey joining in 1990, Williams would dominate most of the decade, the Head and Newey combination almost as if not more successful than the Brawn and Byrne combination that dominated with Ferrari at a later date. Head would remain as Technical Director until 2004 when he moved aside for Sam Michael. He remained as Director of Engineering until 2012, when after 35 years with the team, he resigned. Knighted in 2015, he returned to Williams in 2019 as a consultant.