Duels, surprises, victories: 6 highlights of the Hungarian Grand Prix

Present on the F1 calendar since 1986 after a first edition in 1936, the Hungarian Grand Prix quickly found its audience. Despite the winding and narrow characteristics of the circuit, it has already given rise to races that have marked the history of F1. A little retrospective of these moments.

1.1986: Duel between Brazilians

For its first modern edition, the Hungarian Grand Prix offered us a fabulous duel between Ayrton Senna’s Lotus and Nelson Piquet’s Williams. While the first part of the race was dominated by the Lotus driver, the Williams then proved to be faster. After a failed overtaking attempt at the first corner during the 55th lap, Piquet tried again two laps later. After the starting straight, the Brazilian feigned to the right and then overtook Senna on the outside. In the dirty part, he performed a magnificent drift but still managed to complete his overtaking and claimed victory.

The Williams driver will also win the Grand Prix the following year, marking his third and final world title. Meanwhile, Senna will win the 1988 edition and will be crowned for the first time in his career that season.

2. 1997: Hill close to the feat

While he won the world championship in 1996, Damon Hill is dropped by Williams at the end of the season, replaced by the German Heinz-Harald Frentzen. The Briton eventually finds refuge with the modest Arrows team.

Upon arriving in Hungary for the 11th round of the season, the reigning world champion had only scored one point (a 6th place in Great Britain). However, at the Hungaroring track, he qualified in third position, aided by a single-seater and Bridgestone tires perfectly suited to the track.

From the start, he overtakes his former teammate Jacques Villeneuve before passing Michael Schumacher on the 11th lap to take the lead. Leading throughout the race and close to achieving a true feat, the Briton is betrayed by his mechanics.

On lap 75, while he has more than thirty seconds lead over Villeneuve, Hill experiences a hydraulic problem and his car gets stuck in third gear. In the final lap, he is eventually overtaken by the Canadian. Heroically, he still manages to cross the finish line in second place. An unexpected result, but unfortunately, it does not continue as he will not score any more points for the season.

3. 2003, 2006, 2008: first victories for Alonso, Button, and Kovalainen

The Hungarian Grand Prix was also the scene of significant firsts for some drivers. In 2003, while Schumacher, Räikkönen, and Montoya were battling for the world title, a young Spaniard made headlines: Fernando Alonso.

Driving the Renault, the 22-year-old driver dominates the weekend. After a pole position on Saturday, the second of his career, the Spaniard controls the race on Sunday and finishes with more than a 16-second lead over Kimi Räikkönen, even lapping future world champion Michael Schumacher. Two championship titles and 31 other victories would later complete the Spanish driver’s career, as he embarks on his 22nd Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.

Three years later, it’s another future world champion who is going to shine: Jenson Button. The Briton, already experienced in 2006, still hasn’t won a single race in his career. In Hungary, the weekend starts poorly. Despite qualifying in fourth position, he is relegated to 14th place after an engine change.

However, on Sunday, everything smiled upon him. Räikkönen, who secured pole position and was leading, collided with Liuzzi while trying to lap him and retired. Alonso, the leader after the McLaren driver’s retirement, lost a nut during his pit stop and ended up in the wall. In his Honda, Button thus secured his first victory and finally launched his career, which would culminate in a world title in 2009.

In 2008, a McLaren-Ferrari duel energizes the season. While both drivers of the Italian team are in the fight, McLaren mainly relies on Lewis Hamilton against a struggling Kovalainen. However, in Hungary, he is the one who creates the surprise. Qualifying in second position, the Finn takes advantage of his teammate’s troubles and Massa’s retirement, who was the leader with three laps to go, to achieve his first and only F1 victory. He would return to the podium in Italy two races later, the last of his career.

4. 2014: Ricciardo wins a crazy race

In 2014, the arrival of hybrid engines marked the beginning of Mercedes’ hegemony. The Silver Arrows overwhelmingly dominated the season. Arriving in Hungary, the 11th Grand Prix of the season, the German team had won 9 races and secured 9 pole positions. However, in Budapest, not everything would go as planned.

From the start of the qualifiers, Lewis Hamilton’s car catches fire: the Briton will start last. On Sunday, he makes a mistake on the first lap and damages his car. Meanwhile, changing weather conditions disrupt the race, and two men make the most of it: Ricciardo and Alonso.

After overtaking Hamilton, who was then in second place, the Australian passed the Ferrari of the Spanish driver in the final laps and claimed his second victory of the season and of his career. Alonso finished second, marking his last podium with Ferrari, while Ricciardo also won the following race at Spa. The Australian would be the only driver to win outside of Mercedes that season.

5. 2015: Vettel’s tribute to Bianchi

Upon arriving in Hungary, the F1 world is in mourning. A few days earlier, Jules Bianchi succumbed to his injuries, never having recovered from his terrible accident in Japan in October 2014. A minute of silence is observed by all the drivers before the start.

The race will be marked by Sebastian Vettel’s victory. Starting third on the grid, the German overtakes both Mercedes and takes the lead from the first lap. The German cars are in for a nightmare: both drivers collide at the start, Hamilton loses several positions, and later, Rosberg is hit by Ricciardo while fighting for the podium, resulting in a puncture.

In the lead for 69 of the 70 laps, Vettel easily wins ahead of the two Red Bulls of Kvyat and Ricciardo. After the race, the German speaks on the radio: « Thank you Jules, this victory is for you, this victory is for you. » A beautiful tribute to a driver who would surely have one day worn Ferrari colors.

6. 2021: The day of glory for Esteban Ocon

A few months after Pierre Gasly’s victory in Monza, France once again thrilled thanks to Esteban Ocon’s success in a chaotic race. Right from the start, a pile-up occurred. Bottas missed his braking and hit Norris’s McLaren, which rebounded onto Verstappen’s Red Bull. Pérez was also involved, while Stroll caused an accident with Leclerc and Ricciardo.

After the first turn, Hamilton, on pole, leads ahead of Ocon and Vettel. The race is interrupted by a red flag. At the restart, the track dries very quickly. All drivers, except Hamilton, switch to medium tires. The Briton restarts alone on the grid with intermediate tires and ends up last after his stop.

During the remaining laps, Ocon withstands the pressure from Vettel and a rampaging Hamilton to claim his first F1 victory, also Alpine’s first. For the second time in the 21st century, the Marseillaise rings out on the Hungarian podium. And what if this weekend offers us a third?