Can You Name These Famous Formula 1 Drivers from a Photo?
By: Marty Sems
3 min
Image: shutterstock
About This Quiz
Before NASCAR pretty much completely took over the U.S. car racing airwaves, Formula 1 racing was the king of the road. In most of the rest of the world, it still is. Walk into a taverna, bistro or trattoria in Europe on a weekend and you'll likely see bizarrely streamlined racers slaloming around tracks that bear no resemblance to the "turn left for 500 miles" tracks in the United States. The racers who drive those Formula 1 cars are huge stars in their own right, and if you pay any attention at all to the sport you will know a lot of them. This quiz will test your knowledge of Formula 1's biggest stars!
If you're a NASCAR fan, you might even get a bonus, since some of the greatest stars of Formula 1 are also NASCAR drivers, or have been at some point in their careers. Maybe they decided they wanted to turn left AND right for a change? The skill sets are mostly the same between the two sports, although the Formula 1 cars are somewhat more high-tech and temperamental than their NASCAR brethren. Try "swapping paint" in a Formula 1 car and you'll end up wrapped up in a ball.
We hope you don't hit the wall with this quiz! Put on your helmet, head for turn 1 and click start!
photographer Rob Croes; cropped by Z105space
Name this famous Formula 1 racer.
Niki Lauda
Sebastian Vettel
Roger Williamson
James Hunt
James Hunt was a UK racer with a reputation for partying and womanizing, in contrast to his more serious Austrian teammate, rival, and friend Niki Lauda. Driving for McLaren, he won the 1976 F1 world championship by a single point. Hunt later went on to become a commentator for the BBC.
Ayrton Senna took the Formula 1 world championship a total of three times before a crash ended his young life at 34. The Brazilian driver joined McLaren-Honda in 1988 and logged his first world title, and followed his teammate and rival Alain Prost’s 1989 win with back-to-back 1990 and 1991 championships. He died in 1994 during the San Marino Grand Prix.
Kevin Magnussen, son of Danish Formula 1 racer Jan Magnussen, impressed fans with a podium finish for McLaren in his very first F1 race in 2014. After moving on to Renault Sport, Magnussen now races with veteran teammate Romain Grosjean for the Haas F1 Team.
Mario Andretti is arguably the most famous racer in the world. He not only won the F1 world championship in 1978, but he’s also the only racer to also win the Indy 500 and Daytona 500 as well. The Associated Press and RACER Magazine both named him “Driver of the Century†as the millennium came to a close.
Niki Lauda survived a crash and a fire at the German Grand Prix at Nürburgring in 1976. Although burned and with damaged lungs, the Austrian returned to Formula 1 just weeks later and raced on and off for several more years. The racing legend never underwent plastic surgery to hide the scars from his fiery crash.
Sebastian Vettel, at 23, not only became the youngest F1 world champion in 2010--edging out Lewis Hamilton’s “youngest-ever†2008 record by a matter of months--but he also won the title each of the next three years, too. At this writing, the German phenomenon currently races for Scuderia Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton has become Great Britain’s “winningest†Formula 1 driver. The young marvel has brought home four World Championships: 2008 for McLaren, and then 2014, 2015, and 2017 for Mercedes.
Michael Schumacher’s Formula 1 career was a remarkable one that came to a remarkable end. The German driver dominated the turn of the millennium with a record seven World Championships, including five in a row (2000-2004) for Ferrari. In late 2013, he suffered a severe brain injury in a skiing accident in the French Alps, and has yet to fully recover at this writing.
Daniel Ricciardo hails from Australia, and has been nipping at the heels of some of Formula 1’s greats. When he would win a race, he would do a traditional Aussie “Shoeyâ€--drinking from his racing shoe--to celebrate. Ricciardo is currently racing for Red Bull alongside his young teammate Max Verstappen at this writing.
Rubens Barrichello has competed in more Formula 1 races than any other driver (322). The Brazilian has raced for the Ferrari, Honda, Brawn and Williams teams, and placed second in two World Championships (2002 & 2004).
Pierre Gasly’s racing accomplishments at such a young age, especially in GP2 and Formula Renault 2.0, point to great feats ahead in Formula 1. He’s currently driving for Toro Rosso at this writing.
Nico Rosberg upset Lewis Hamilton to take the 2016 F1 World Championship while driving for Mercedes AMG Petronas. After retiring from Formula 1, the German-Finnish driver has become involved in all-electric Formula E racing.
Mika Häkkinen overcame 1995 crash injuries to come back and win the F1 World Championship in 1998 & 1999 for McLaren. German legend Michael Schumacher once said that the Finnish Häkkinen was the rival he respected most.
Mexican racer Sergio Perez has become a familiar face in Formula 1 since 2011. He finished second in a couple of Grand Prix in 2012 for Team Sauber, went on to McLaren for a season, and currently drives for Force India.
The young Carlos Sainz, Jr hails from Spain, and is the son of a world champion rally racer. He competed alongside teammate Max Verstappen at Toro Rosso, and at this writing currently drives for Renault.
British racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart racked up three Formula 1 World Championships in 1969, 1971, and 1973. He also took the runner-up position in 1972. Later, in 1997, he and his son formed an F1 racing team that included driver Rubens Barrichello.
French driver Patrick Depailler raced for teams Tyrell, Ligier and finally Alfa Romeo in the 1970s. After recovering from a hang gliding accident in 1979 that broke his legs, he returned to Formula 1 only to die in a 1980 testing session crash at a German track.
Martin Brundle landed 10 podium finishes in 158 Formula 1 races. Post-racing, he became a sports commentator for British TV. His signature move is his Gridwalk, where he talks live to crews and drivers before races begin.
Emerson Fittipaldi held the record for “youngest-ever†F1 World Champion for 33 years. At age 25, he won the 1972 championship for Lotus. Two years later in 1974, he repeated the feat for McLaren.
Juan Manuel Fangio, born in Argentina, amazingly took five F1 World Championships in the 1950s. And he did it by hopping from team to team--Alfa Romeo, Mercedes, Ferrari and Maserati--so he would always have the best car available.
Nigel Mansell became the first Formula 1 world champion to win the CART Indy Car title the same year. His F1 title came in 1992 as the Brit drove a FW14B for Williams.
Jean-Pierre Jabouille--not just a driver but also an engineer--won the first Grand Prix with a turbocharged engine. He followed that 1979 French GP victory with the 1980 Austrian GP title, both for Team Renault.
French racer Romain Grosjean has been gathering top-10 finishes since 2012. He made a name for himself while racing for the likes of Renault and Lotus. Grosjean currently racks up points for Haas alongside his younger teammate Kevin Magnussen.
“The Professor†Alain Prost won four World Championships in Formula 1 (1985, 1986, 1989, 1993), and his collision-strewn rivalry with Ayrton Senna has become the stuff of racing legend. The Frenchman holds the 2nd-place record for the most Grand Prix wins (51), well behind only Michael Schumacher (91)... and beating Senna (41).
Jim Clark made racing look effortless, according to his admirers and peers. The Brit was the Formula 1 World Champion in 1963 and 1965, as well as the Indianapolis 500 winner the latter year. His life was tragically cut short in an F2 race in Germany when one of his rear tires failed, sending his car into the trees off-track.
“South African Wild Man†Jody Scheckter caused many collisions and crashes with his all-out speed strategy in his early years of F1 racing, but he said the sight of his teammate Francois Cevert’s death in a practice run made him a much more careful driver. His newfound cautiousness paid off with the 1979 Formula 1 World Championship for Ferrari.
American driver Brett Lunger never won any of the 43 Grand Prixs in which he competed, but he’s remembered for pulling Niki Lauda out of his flaming wreck at the 1976 German Grand Prix. Lunger was also a captain in the Marine Corps and was wounded in battle in Vietnam.
Jenson Button raced for teams such as Williams, Honda and McLaren over the course of his F1 career, but it was with Brawn GP that he won the 2009 World Championship. At this writing, he's competing on the Super GT circuit.
Fernando Alonso was the youngest F1 World Champion at the time in 2005, and he followed the feat with another title the following year. The Spanish driver went on to place 2nd in 2010, 2012 and 2013 for Ferrari. He’s currently racing for McLaren.
Frenchman Jean Alesi had a long Formula 1 career (1989-2001), but the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix was his only win on the open-wheel circuit. He raced for Tyrrell, Ferrari, Benetton, Sauber, Prost and Jordan during that time. Post-F1, Alesi competed in the Le Mans in 2010 and the Indianapolis 500 in 2012.
Damon Hill notched eight wins for Williams during the 1996 Formula 1 season, and even won the World Championship that year despite the talent of his competition. Over the course of his F1 career he also raced for Brabham, Arrows, and Jordan.
Luca Badoer has the dubious honor of starting the most Grand Prix races without earning a single point, at least according to more restrictive pre-2010 scoring rules. A decade after his 1993-1999 Formula 1 career, Ferrari brought the Italian back into the cockpit for the 2009 season to replace the injured Felipe Massa, with mixed results.
The original uploader was Xraver at Italian Wikipedia
Can you name this famous Formula 1 racer?
Michael Schumacher
Esteban Ocon
Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella won three races in his 1996-2009 Formula 1 career: the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix for Jordan, and then 2005 Australian GP and the 2006 Malaysian GP for Renault. He went on to race for Force India and Ferrari, and later won two Le Mans 24 Hour class events (2012 and 2014) for AF Corse.
Riccardo Patrese won six Grand Prix, but the closest he came to a World Championship was 2nd place to his Williams teammate Nigel Mansell in 1992. Patrese was initially banned from the US Grand Prix for his role in the 1978 Italian Grand Prix pile-up that claimed the life of driver Ronnie Peterson, but was later cleared of wrongdoing.
Ronnie Peterson hailed from Sweden, wowing the crowds by drifting through turns with a bit of oversteer. In his later career he was good friends with his Lotus teammate Mario Andretti. Tragically, Peterson died of injuries sustained in a multi-car crash in the 1978 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, coincidentally being the race in which Peter Gethin beat him seven years earlier by a record one-hundredth of a second.
Max Verstappen is relatively new on the scene, having only been born in 1997, and the Red Bull driver has the record for being the youngest Formula 1 driver to win a Gran Prix. The Belgian-Dutch racer is the son of F1 veteran Jos Verstappen.
Brendon Hartley is the first Formula 1 racer from New Zealand since 1984. Before the towheaded Kiwi joined the Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso Team, he and fellow countryman Earl Bamber won the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours Race.
Mark Webber captured nine Gran Prix wins and 42 podium finishes during his 15-year F1 career, the last five years of which saw him playing second fiddle to rival and Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel. After retiring from Formula 1, the Australian won the 2015 World Endurance Championship (WEC) with Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley.
NL-HaNA, ANEFO / neg. stroken, 1945-1989, 2.24.01.05, item number 924-6614
Name this famous Formula 1 racer.
Fernando Alonso
Peter Gethin
Peter Gethin’s biggest F1 career highlight, arguably, came in 1971 at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The British driver edged out Swede Ronnie Peterson to take the win by a mere hundredth of a second, a record at the time, as was his 151.634 mph average speed. Gethin passed away in 2011.