• Ask Steven

Campbell's own race at Brooklands

Steven Lynch August 16, 2013
Sir Malcolm Campbell used to drive his famous Bluebird cars at Brooklands © Press Association

My father gave me a programme for the 1937 Campbell Trophy at Brooklands, and inside it refers to the race as a Grand Prix. What exactly was it? asked Richard White

The Campbell Trophy was raced at Brooklands in 1937, 1938 and 1939: it was named after Sir Malcolm Campbell, the famous British driver of the time - and a Brooklands regular - who improved the land speed record in his Bluebird cars several times between 1924 and 1937. The Campbell Trophy was basically a non-championship Grand Prix: although the official world championship was some way off, there was a European one at the time. The first two Campbell Trophy races were won by the Thai prince Birabongse Bhanudej, who drove under the name "B. Bira". He was also third in 1939, the last time the race was held before the onset of war. If I were you would hang on to the programme, as it may be worth a fair bit! I tracked down some rare footage of the 1937 race here.

I know that Sauber have only won one Grand Prix. How many other teams have won just the once? asked Michael Toomey

Sauber's only win to date came when the team was being run by BMW in the 2008 Canadian GP, when Robert Kubica won what also remains his only victory. That year also produced another one-time winner: first home in the Italian GP was a Toro Rosso, driven by a promising youngster called Sebastian Vettel. Toro Rosso actually won a Grand Prix before their big brothers Red Bull, whose first victory didn't arrive until the following year, when that man Vettel led home Mark Webber for a 1-2 in China. Six other teams have enjoyed just one taste of the F1 victory champagne. A Porsche, driven by Dan Gurney, finished a lap clear of the field in the 1962 French GP, and Gurney was also at the wheel of the Eagle which took the chequered flag in Belgium in 1967. Hesketh, with James Hunt, won their only race in the Netherlands in 1975, while the following year's Austrian GP was won by John Watson in a Penske. The Osterreichring served up another one-time winner the following year, when Alan Jones won for Shadow. And the last of the one-hit wonders came at the 1999 European GP, when Johnny Herbert won an eventful race at the Nurburgring in a Stewart (that was the last year the Stewart raced; in 2000 the team was rebranded as Jaguar, and then sold to Red Bull in 2005).

Adrian Sutil has just taken part in his 100th Grand Prix, all of them for the same team. Has anyone else ever done this? asked Keith Shaw

Adrian Sutil made his F1 debut in 2007 for Spyker, which became Force India the following year. The last race in Hungary was Sutil's 100th GP, so it's technically correct (if slightly confusing) to say that his first 100 were all for the same team. This is obviously quite unusual, but actually you don't have to look very far to find another example: Lewis Hamilton's first 110 GPs were all for McLaren, from 2007 until his move to Mercedes this year. Both Hamilton and Sutil made their GP debuts in Australia in March 2007.

Jolyon Palmer took his second GP2 victory in Hungary © Sutton Images

Is Jolyon Palmer, who won the GP2 feature race in Hungary, related to the old F1 driver Jonathan Palmer? asked Nigel Marshall

That well-crafted win in Hungary was the second one in GP2 for Jolyon Palmer, who also won the sprint race in Monaco in 2012. Jolyon, who was born in Sussex in 1991, is the son of the former F1 driver Jonathan Palmer, who had spells with several F1 teams between 1983 and 1989. He took part in 88 GPs, with a best result of fourth in Australia in 1987, when he was driving for Tyrrell. A qualified doctor, Jonathan had a spell as a TV commentator and is now a circuit owner and race organiser.

Of people who won a Grand Prix, who took part in the fewest races overall? asked Guy Simpson

That's a ticklish one - and the answer is that Luigi Fagioli, who won the French GP in 1951, took part in only six other world Championship GPs. Fagioli had just turned 53 when he won at Reims, and remains the oldest GP winner. It should be said, though, that Fagioli shared that drive with Juan Manuel Fangio, whose car developed mechanical problems early in the race. After 20 laps Fangio took over his team-mate's car, which was permissible in those days, and went on to win: the drivers shared the points. Fagioli eventually took Fangio's original race car back out, and finished in 11th place, 22 laps down on the leader. Arguably a more authentic answer to your question is another Italian driver, Ludovico Scarfiotti: he started only ten GPs, but won one of them, a popular victory for Ferrari at Monza in 1966. Scarfiotti, who was viewed more as a sports-car specialist, died in an accident two years later. The driver with most races to produce just one victory is Jarno Trulli, with 256 between 1997 and 2011 - he won the 2004 Monaco GP in a Renault.

Jacky Ickx was second in the world championship two years running, but never won it - has anyone else done this? asked Richard Bartlett

Jacky Ickx was the world championship runner-up twice, in a Brabham in 1969 and a Ferrari the following year. He never did win the F1 world title, although he did come first at Le Mans six times. But Stirling Moss finished second in the F1 drivers' championship four times - each year from 1955 to 1958 - and famously never won the title. The only others to finish second on two occasions but never win didn't do it in successive years: Ronnie Peterson was the runner-up in 1971 and 1978, and Rubens Barrichello in 2002 and 2004. Fifteen other drivers have finished second in the Championship once and never won the title.