The start in 1936…
The Hungarian Grand Prix celebrates its 30th year this summer and in honour of this momentous occasion The Budapest Times will provide in-depth coverage of this month’s event. In the first of our three-part series, we look back at where it all began, how it ended up in Hungary
and, of course, some of the biggest moments in the series’ history.
July 24-26 will see the 30th anniversary of the Hungarian Grand Prix – an event held every year near Budapest since 1986. It is now the third-longest consecutively held grand prix in the world – after only the monumental Monaco Grand Prix and the historic Italian Grand Prix held at Monza. It’s a remarkable achievement if you consider that there were no Formula One races in communist-era Europe in the mid-1980s, and that Hungary did not even have an F1 track.
That is not to say that Hungary didn’t already have a rich history in motor sports. Long before Bernie Ecclestone brought his mega-powerful motor sport series to communist Hungary in 1986, this Central European country had made its mark on the industry. Whether it was through legendary drivers, revolutionary engineers or even as an early grand prix host – in the early days of formula racing, Hungary was at the forefront.
Early 20th-century: Hungarians lead the way
The year was 1936 – Bing Crosby and Benny Goodman were what the cool kids listened to on the radio, Shirley Temple was the most popular starlet on the big screen, and the current iteration of the Hungarian Grand Prix was still 50 years away. Times were different then – riding mechanics (a mechanic who rode along with a race car during the actual event) in grands prix were only banned in Europe a few years earlier (although they were still being used in the US’s Indianapolis 500 Grand Prix); cars were coloured based on the nation of its driver or constructor; and next door, a certain Adolf Hitler was welcoming the world to the Nazi Olympic Games.
Still, the time was ripe for a Hungarian Grand Prix. It was Ferenc Szisz – the head tester at Renault and former riding mechanic for founder Louis Renault – who first put Hungary on the motor racing map. Szisz was grand prix racing’s first star, winning the first-ever grand prix in France in 1906. His achievements were so great that he is honoured with a nifty statue at the home of Hungary’s modern-day grand prix – the Hungaroring.
Szisz wasn’t the only prominent Hungarian in early motor car racing. Vittorio Jano was an Italian automobile designer born to Hungarian parents and was primarily responsible for the design of many of racing giant Alfa Romeo’s earliest grand prix vehicles, including both the P2 Grand Prix car that won the inaugural world championship in 1925, as well as the P3 model that featured prominently in Hungary’s first grand prix – held in the summer of 1936.
1936: Hungary gets a grand prix
Held on a warm, summer day in June 1936, Hungary’s first grand prix was sandwiched between the illustrious Eifelrennen at Germany’s legendary Nürburgring and the prominent Milan Grand Prix, ensuring that the finest drivers of the day made an appearance in Budapest. Held on a 5-kilometre circuit in the central Népliget Park, an estimated crowd of 100,000 showed the support the fledgling circuit had already attained in the country.
Most in attendance were rooting for hometown hero László Hartmann to put in a good showing, even if his Maserati was technically inferior to the Mercedes-Benz, Auto Unions and Jano’s own Alfa Romeos in the field. The 250-kilometre race saw the drivers make 50 laps around the tree-lined park with a sublime run by one of the top drivers of the day, former European champion Tazio Nuvolari.
What’s your colour? Until the 1960s, race cars were generally painted the colour of the driver or the manufacturer. It’s why in racing Italy is associated with “rossa corsa (Racing red)”, Britain with “British racing green”, France with “Bleu de France” and Germany with “Silver arrows”. Hungary’s colours, adopted later on, are the colours of the flag: a white car with a green rear end and red hood.
Driving an Alfa Romeo and starting from fourth on the grid, he surprised that season’s world champion and Nazi hopeful Bernd Rosemayer of Auto Union to the delight of the Hungarian crowd. Hartmann also put in an inspired run, finishing in seventh, in what was one of his final races before his death at the Tripoli Grand Prix just two years later.
All in all the event proved to be popular; however war and politics got in the way of the return of the event – for the next 50 years.
The 1980s: The fastest sport courts the happiest barrack
Fast forward 50 years. It’s now 1986. Falco’s “Rock Me Amadeus” was topping the charts, Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun” was driving people to the cinemas, and a young Mikhail Gorbachev was well into his glasnost and perestroika reforms that would eventually lead to the downfall of communist governments across Eastern Europe.
That, of course, was unknown to people at the time and one Bernie Ecclestone – the then and current CEO of Formula One – was looking for a breakthrough to bring his worldwide championship racing series behind the Iron Curtain for the first time. His initial talks with the Soviet Union broke down, allegedly after officials insisted on running the cars over the bricks in Red Square, and Mr. Ecclestone looked elsewhere for friendly ears.
He found them in Hungary, known at the time as “the happiest barrack in the socialist camp” for its improved human rights record and its introduction of elements of a free market economy. It was the openness to Western business that attracted the F1 supremo, and the Hungarian government hoped the race would put the country on the international map.
What could have been… Initial plans were to hold the Hungarian Grand Prix at the picturesque Lake Velence. They were quashed by then-minister of war Lajos Czinege. F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone preferred a central park race – either in Népliget or Városliget Park – but environmental concerns got in the way. The compromise was to build the Hungaroring near Mogyoród, against the wishes of Czinege, who liked to hunt in the area.
1986: Budapest gets its grand prix back
With a willing partner in which to hold the first-ever Formula One event behind the Iron Curtain, all that needed to be decided was where exactly to stage the event. Initial plans were drawn for southwest of Budapest around the picturesque Lake Velence. Renowned architect István Papp – who would later design the Hungaroring – drew up the designs and even legendary world champion driver Juan Manuel Fangio was approached as a supervisor.
However, as the story goes, the minister of war at the time, Lajos Czinege, didn’t want the noise of the cars to disrupt the peace and quiet of the comrades at the lake. Ecclestone himself wanted the race in a central Budapest park; either back at Népliget, the 1936 venue, or at the scenic Városliget Park near Heroes’ Square.
Unfortunately, these plans too were stymied due to environmental concerns. Finally, the decision was made to build a brand-new course in a dusty field near Mogyoród, some 20 kilometres northwest of the city. The track was built in just eight months at a cost of 340 million forints, and over the objections of a certain minister of war, who enjoyed hunting in the area.
The job was done, the drivers and their cars showed up, and so too did the fans. Arriving in their Ladas and Trabants, amid Soviet tanks and soldiers with semi-automatic rifles, 200,000 fans from across the communist world converged to witness future world champion Nelson Piquet’s Williams-Honda edge out another future world champion, Ayrton Senna, in a Lotus Renault.
On that hot summer day in 1986, 50 years after Hungary’s first grand prix, a true Hungarian tradition was born.
… and in 2014.
1936-2015: 30 years of motor racing magic
Fans have been treated to many memorable moments at the Hungaroring over the past 30 years. There were the first-ever victories for Damon Hill (1993) and Jenson Button (2006), championship-clinching results by Nigel Mansell (1992) and Michael Schumacher (2001), and Kimi Raikkonen’s memorable 2005 win to the delight of the large Finnish contingent of fans. The magical memories are almost too many to count, so instead we highlight the top 10 moments in Hungarian Grand Prix history.
#10: (2014) Hamilton’s last-to-third: While Australian Daniel Ricciardo took the chequered flag in only the third wet-weather race in Hungarian GP history, the contest will be remembered for the scintillating drive from former world champion Lewis Hamilton. Forced to start from the back row due to a fire during qualifying, Hamilton – who sat in second in the drivers’ standings at the time – reeled in car after car before finishing in third, nearly catching second-place Fernando Alonso and just five seconds behind the leader.
#9: (2009) Freak accident takes out Felipe Massa for the season: The dangers that the drivers face every race are very real and Hungarian fans were reminded of this when Felipe Massa was involved in a freak accident in 2009. During qualifying, the Brazilian was knocked unconscious after a small spring from Ruben Barichello’s Brawn hit him above the eye while he was driving at over 280kmh. He suffered a concussion and fractured skull, and was airlifted to a hospital, missing the rest of the season.
#8: (1987) Mansell loses wheel: Winner of the first modern Hungarian Grand Prix, Brazilian Nelson Piquet repeated the feat in its second race. But this time it was more of a gift. One of the most successful drivers of all time, and future world champion Nigel Mansell, was leading with only six laps remaining when a wheel nut came flying off his right front wheel on Turn #4 and forced him to retire. To this day, Turn #4 at the Hungaroring is named after him because of the incident.
#7: (2007) Alonso / Hamilton rivalry: F1 history is littered with heated rivalries, and sometimes they exist within a team. The 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix was notable for the rivalry between McLaren-Mercedes teammates Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. The two were in a tight race in the drivers’ standings that season and were fighting for every inch and point they could score – even during qualifying. Alonso held up Hamilton in the pits, preventing the latter from recording a final qualifying time. The move cost Alonso five places on the starting grid and the team all of their constructors’ points. In the end, Hamilton got the last laugh as he won the race. Alonso finished a distant fourth.
#6: (1990) Thierry Boutsen holds off Ayrton Senna: The Hungaroring earned its notoriety as a difficult-to-pass track early on when in 1990 Thierry Boutsen was able to hold off a queue of more powerful machines – including maybe the greatest driver of all-time, Ayrton Senna – in an inferior Williams FW13B. The Belgian trumped the champ by just 0.3 seconds in the race’s closest-ever finish.
#5: (1986) The grand prix returns to Hungary: Hungarian racing fans were rewarded after a 50-year wait with the first grand prix behind the Iron Curtain. Over 200,000 people from across communist Europe were on hand to see Brazilian Nelson Piquet edge out compatriot Ayrton Senna for the title of first-ever Hungarian Grand Prix champion.
#4: (2006) “Race of the Century”: In the Hungarian Grand Prix’s first-ever wet weather race, racing fans were treated to what some members of the press consider to be the “Race of the Century”. Featuring several lead changes, accidents, spin-outs and pit strategies, it was Honda’s Jenson Button who ended up claiming his first-ever grand prix victory. Only seven of the 22 drivers finished, meaning that eighth-place Michael Schumacher still claimed a drivers’ standing point despite not completing the race.
#3: (1997) Damon Hill near-miss: Reigning world champion Damon Hill nearly pulled off one of the great upsets of all time in 1997 when he almost took the chequered flag for the lowly Arrows team. Leading by as much as 33 seconds late on, his inferior car gave in to a hydraulic problem on the penultimate lap, allowing Canadian Jacques Villeneuve to repeat as Hungarian Grand Prix champion by cruising past the coasting Hill on the final lap.
#2: (1989) Mansell’s magical pass: Beginning way back in 12th position on the grid, and facing a notoriously difficult-to-pass track, British racing wizard Nigel Mansell put in one of the great drives of all time by bullying his way through traffic to claim victory. His masterful move to box in world champion Ayrton Senna behind a slow-running Stefan Johansson to take the lead was pure magic.
#1: (1998) Schumacher’s three-pit miracle: It makes sense that the greatest moment in the first 29 years of the Hungarian Grand Prix goes to the race’s undisputed king. Schumacher still holds the record for fastest lap (1:19.071 in 2004) and most Hungarian GP titles (four), none being more impressive than in 1998. Running in third for most of the race behind the McLarens of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard, the Ferrari team made the bold move to change from a two-stop to a three-stop pit strategy. The resulting win was so impressive that fans stormed the track in celebration at the race’s end, marking the only time in its history that organisers were fined for such an infraction.
What’s the trick? Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel – one of the most accomplished drivers in the history of the sport – has never won at the Hungaroring. In his first five seasons alone he scored at least one victory on every other track. Could this be his year to take his first-ever Hungarian Grand Prix?
What the future holds
“It’s a tradition for us Hungarians now,” explains former opposition leader Attila Mesterhazy. “The transition period for Hungary was in 1990 but Formula One began before the country changed the regime. So this race is older than the Hungarian democracy, and that’s why it’s somehow a part of us.”
Now in its 30th consecutive year, the tradition seems to be pretty safe. The Hungarian Grand Prix has become a fixture on the Formula One calendar – only the classic Monaco and Italian Grands Prix have been a staple for longer. The event is slated to remain in the country until at least 2021.
What started out as an experiment to bring the world of Formula One racing to a new communist audience has inspired an entire generation of auto racing fans. Next year will see events be staged in no fewer than four current or former communist countries: the European Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan; the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai; the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi; and, of course, here in Hungary.
Ecclestone’s Eastern European experiment has worked, and along with it has born a new Hungarian tradition. So come on out and see what generations of Hungarian racing fans have known all along – that the Hungarian Grand Prix is the most rollicking event on the country’s sporting calendar. To the Hungarian Grand Prix – congratulations on a wonderful 30 years. And here’s to 30 more!