RACE 12

Hungarian Grand Prix

Budapest

The first Hungarian Grand Prix was held in 1936 at Nepliget, a park in Budapest.

But it would be fifty years before the running of the second GP in 1986, when it became the first F1 race to be held behind the "iron curtain".

Since then the event has been ever present on the F1 calendar, at it's permanent home, Hungaroring, in Mogyorod, near Budapest.

Hungaroring

The circuit itself is short, narrow, tight and twisty, leading to comparisons with Monaco, with races often suffering from similar difficulties in overtaking.

The layout has remained largely unchanged, with only minor revisions including the lengthening of the pit straight, and minor alterations to turns 1,3, and 12.

Winners

Lewis Hamilton has the most Hungarian Grand Prix wins with six. Michael Schumacher has four, and Ayrton Senna has three.

The most successful team in Hungary is McLaren with 11 wins. Williams and Ferrari both have 7 wins, Mercedes have 3, and Red Bull have 2.

Amongst current F1 drivers, Hamilton now has six wins, Vettel has 2, and Alonso and Raikkonen have one each.

Crowds

Bearing in mind that this is not one of F1's headline events, the Hungarian GP is still reasonably well attended, and the Hungaroring will usually approach it's capacity of 70,000 on race day. Over the course of the event crowds approaching 190,000 are often achieved.

According to the national tourism office of Hungary, Mogyorod ranks third among Hungarian destinations visited by tourists.