F1 Quiz Chain

[Marty_Y]

Yay for me.

I'm too busy to think of a good question just now. Who wants a turn?

I've got one, which two drivers were the first and last to win the driver's championships with naturally aspirated Mercedes engines?

[Just_a_fan]

Yay for me.

I'm too busy to think of a good question just now. Who wants a turn?

I've got one, which two drivers were the first and last to win the driver's championships with naturally aspirated Mercedes engines?

Fangio and Button.

[Marty_Y]

Yay for me.

I'm too busy to think of a good question just now. Who wants a turn?

I've got one, which two drivers were the first and last to win the driver's championships with naturally aspirated Mercedes engines?

Fangio and Button.

Well done, that's correct.

[Just_a_fan]

Ok, one from me.

Which country has the highest rate of F1 driver champions? And who was the first person from this country to race in F1?

[Fulcrum]

How are you calculating the rate? Unique drivers only, or are you measuring #championships/#drivers?

Either way, I think it is Finland. 9 drivers, 3 of which became WDC, one of which did so twice (totaling 4 WDC).

Leo Kinnunen being the first driver from Finland to race in F1.

[Just_a_fan]

How are you calculating the rate? Unique drivers only, or are you measuring #championships/#drivers?

Either way, I think it is Finland. 9 drivers, 3 of which became WDC, one of which did so twice (totaling 4 WDC).

Leo Kinnunen being the first driver from Finland to race in F1.

Your answer is correct.

By rate I meant number of drivers that became champion / total number of drivers from that country. Finland has had 9 drivers and three of them became champion so 1:3.

[CMSMJ1]

The reverse of that question would also be interesting - which country has had the most drivers and at least 1 championship? Not stepping on Fulcrum's toes, but made me think - USA perhaps?

[NathanOlder]

The reverse of that question would also be interesting - which country has had the most drivers and at least 1 championship? Not stepping on Fulcrum's toes, but made me think - USA perhaps?

US is a good bet, France must be high too. Only 1 champion compared to the US having 2. ALthough France has 4 championships.

[CMSMJ1]

Indeed, there will have been more French drivers than US too. UK might be in for it - very high numbers of drivers, and a finite number of champions! It might not be so obvious.

[Fulcrum]

The "worst" / highest ratio belongs to the USA, 158 drivers, 2 champions (Hill and Andretti). France is next with 71 drivers and only 1 champion (Prost). Then Italy, 99 and 2.

The US ratio is bit inaccurate to be fair, as a lot of US drivers only show up in F1 statistics as a result of the Indy 500 being a shared event (1950-1960).

[NathanOlder]

The "worst" / highest ratio belongs to the USA, 158 drivers, 2 champions (Hill and Andretti). France is next with 71 drivers and only 1 champion (Prost). Then Italy, 99 and 2.

The US ratio is bit inaccurate to be fair, as a lot of US drivers only show up in F1 statistics as a result of the Indy 500 being a shared event (1950-1960).

Wow, of those 158 I bet 140 of them took part in a 1 off Indy 500 race when it was included in the championship.

Maybe it would be better to say each driver had to do a season, or something like a minimum of 5 races to count as an F1 driver. For example , I would never call Andre Lotterer an F1 driver.

[Just_a_fan]

The "worst" / highest ratio belongs to the USA, 158 drivers, 2 champions (Hill and Andretti). France is next with 71 drivers and only 1 champion (Prost). Then Italy, 99 and 2.

The US ratio is bit inaccurate to be fair, as a lot of US drivers only show up in F1 statistics as a result of the Indy 500 being a shared event (1950-1960).

Wow, of those 158 I bet 140 of them took part in a 1 off Indy 500 race when it was included in the championship.

Maybe it would be better to say each driver had to do a season, or something like a minimum of 5 races to count as an F1 driver. For example , I would never call Andre Lotterer an F1 driver.

According to the 'web, 233 US drivers have driven in an F1 race. Only 56 of those competed in F1 races outside of the Indy 500. But then other sources say it's 156 US F1 drivers with only 36 having driven in FIA F1 championship races outside of Indy 500. So it's a bit difficult to say. If you think that the Indy 500 has 30-odd drivers and during the 10 or so years it was in the F1 calendar, only Farina entered it in 1952 in a Ferrari. All of the rest was US-only, non-F1 drivers.

[Fulcrum]

The definitions are going to get murky. Do you consider entrants F1 drivers? What about those that attempted to qualify but failed, perhaps multiple times. Then those that qualified but did not start. Then the one/two race participants.

Either way, France and Italy are surprisingly poor considering their pedigree in other aspects of the sport.

[Just_a_fan]

I think that's a good point, Fulcrum. Entering but failing to qualify would possibly put someone on a list somewhere as an F1 driver but not on other similar lists. It's an interesting semantic discussion - if you entered the event, did practice, went through qualifying but failed to make the grid, are you an F1 driver? Hmmm. Tricky.

[matt21]

As it is nearly a week since the last question was answered, I am taking the chance to post a new one.

Which record is held by this driver?