Where in the World? – Part One: Europe

Formula One isn't just a battle between drivers and teams, but also a battle between nations. In this two-part series, allow me to give you a summary of the record of each of the major nations that have seen men from their borders contest the sport, beginning with the countries of the spiritual home of worldwide motorsport: Europe.


Great Britain
No British driver has ever truly enjoyed a sustained period of outright dominance in F1, but Britain's pre-eminence in the sport's history draws from the fact that we have produced by far the highest number of different champions. Mike Hawthorn was the first way back in 1958, but Graham Hill, Jim Clark, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill have all been crowned since, not to current McLaren teammates Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Furthermore, British talent in the junior formulae seems to never be in short supply, so rest assured many more names will be joining that illustrious list in years to come, perhaps including 2011 newcomer Paul Di Resta. Our teams have also amassed a lofty number of constructors titles between them, Lotus, Tyrrell, McLaren and Williams standing out as the biggest success stories, making it hardly a shock that eight of the twelve teams on today's grid are based on our shores.

France
Despite strong performances in the pre-war era from French manufacturers such as Bugatti and Delahaye, it took until 1985 for a Frenchman clinch the world championship in the form of Alain Prost. He would go on to be the sport's most successful ever driver at the time, scoring 51 race wins, a record not surpassed until Michael Schumacher came to the fore. Despite that lengthy wait however, it's almost certain that the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Wimille, Alfa Romeo's number one driver just before the start of the world championship in 1950, would have taken the inaugural title but for his untimely death in early 1949. Besides Prost, the likes of Jacques Laffitte, Didier Pironi, Rene Arnoux and Jean Alesi helped to keep France firmly on the F1 map, but after the recent failures of Sebastien Bourdais and Romain Grosjean to make an impression, France has been left with nobody to fly La Tricolore since 2009. However, a number of up-and-coming drivers like Jules Bianchi and Jean-Eric Vergne look to have the necessary talent to rectify the situation within the next couple of years.


Italy
Italy is another country with an exceptionally rich motorsport heritage. Thanks to iconic names like Alfa Romeo, Maserati and most of all Ferrari, there was no shortage of fast Italians either side of the war, with Achille Varzi, Tazio Nuvolari, Giuseppe Farina and Alberto Ascari all having entered Italian motor racing folklore. Since the rise of the 'garagistas' however, the Italians have found glory somewhat harder to come by. There has been no Italian champion since Ascari in 1953, despite the continued success of the Ferrari team. The last Italian to win a race for Ferrari was Michele Alboreto in 1985, and since then, only Riccardo Patrese, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli have secured race wins for their nation. The latter-most remains on the grid today, albeit with his best days well and Trulli behind him, as well as Vitantonio Liuzzi, whose once-promising career seems to have got stuck in something of a rut. It would be a huge shame if, as is the case now for Frenchman, F1 became devoid of Italian drivers in the years to come.


Germany    
Germany's motorsport roots lie in the runaway successes of the Nazi regime-subsidised teams of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union in the late 1930s, with drivers such as Rudolf Caracciola and Bernd Rosemeyer coming to be idolised in Germany as heroes. After the war however, German drivers became extremely scarce. The first German winner of a world championship race was Wolfgang von Trips, but his premature death in 1961 robbed Germany of its first potential post-war champion. Aside from the exception of the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, which was won by Jochen Mass, it wouldn't be until the meteoric rise of Michael Schumacher in the first half of the 1990s that the Deustchlandlied was played during a podium ceremony once more. Schumacher's seven title victories have since spurred on a wave of other German hopefuls to try and emulate his achievement, and now a quarter of the grid, including reigning champion Sebastian Vettel, is comprised of German drivers.


Scandinavia
Scandinavia's first F1 champion could have been 'Super Swede' Ronnie Peterson, who greatly impressed in his outings for Lotus prior to his tragic death in 1978. Instead, Finland's Keke Rosberg rather unexpectedly took the crown in 1982 for Williams, followed sixteen years later by back-to-back championship wins for his protégé, Mika Hakkinen. The Flying Finn's place at McLaren was taken by compatriot Kimi Raikkonen upon his retirement at the end of 2001, who after a couple of near misses with the Woking-based team finally captured the title with Ferrari in 2007. After the switch made by the 'Iceman' to rallying, Finland's sole representative is now Heikki Kovalainen, whose talent displayed at showings at Renault and McLaren has been somewhat masked by his current Lotus car. Sweden hasn't had any drivers since Stefan Johansson's career spluttered to a halt in mid-1991, whilst the last Dane to contest a full season was Jan Magnussen back in 1997; despite the potential he showed in Formula Three, he ultimately couldn't stand the heat in the F1 kitchen.


Rest of Europe
Spain and Austria are the only other European nations to have supplied F1 champions in the shape of Fernando Alonso by the former and both Jochen Rindt and Niki Lauda by the latter. Jaime Alguersauri currently assists Alonso in seeking Spanish glory, whilst Christian Klien, who made a few appearances for HRT at the end of last season, is the closest thing Austria has to an F1 driver currently. Sebastien Buemi will be hoping to become the third Swiss driver to win a race after Jo Siffert and Clay Regazzoni, whilst Jerome D'Ambrosio will be aspiring likewise for his homeland of Belgium, following in the footsteps of Jacky Ickx and Thierry Boutsen. Holland's most successful driver has been Jos 'The Boss' Verstappen, who, after a brief stint alongside Schumacher at Benetton in 1994, raced for many different tail-end teams in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Finally, the injured Robert Kubica and his Renault teammate from last season, Vitaly Petrov, are the first ever drivers from their respective countries of Poland and Russia, just two markets Bernie Ecclestone will be consequently hoping to tap into.


The three-week wait is finally over next weekend, as the Turkish Grand Prix gets underway. Don't forget to check back here for full qualifying and race reports on Saturday and Sunday, as well for part two of 'Where in the World?', which will be arriving later this month.