four decades of magic moments at the Hungaroring

It is hard to believe that Formula 1 has been venturing behind the Iron Curtain for 40 years now. Ever since the Hungaroring was constructed on the outskirts of Budapest, the Hungarian Grand Prix has delivered peak European summer drama, featuring everything from first-time winners to wild charges through the field and proper controversial clashes.

Take Nigel Mansell in 1989, for instance. Il Leone qualified a subdued 12th on his Ferrari debut struggles, yet charged through the order to hunt down leader Ayrton Senna mid-race. When Senna hesitated in lapping Stefan Johansson's Onyx through Turn 3, Mansell kept his foot down and ducked inside to pass both in one stunning swoop, converting it into a famous win before wrapping up the 1992 world title with Williams at the exact same venue. Then there was Damon Hill's heartbreaking afternoon in 1997. After losing his seat following his 1996 World Championship, Hill wound up at Arrows, a midfield outfit that had never won a Grand Prix. Yet the Bridgestone-equipped Arrows A18 was formidable here as Hill qualified a season-best third, overhauled both Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher, and built a 34-second advantage. Sadly, a hydraulics failure struck with just three laps remaining, leaving him powerless to stop Villeneuve on the final lap.

Ferrari-era dominance arrived in full force in 1998 thanks to Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn. With McLaren locking out the front row and Mika Hakkinen leading away from pole, Brawn pulled off a masterstroke by switching Schumacher to a three-stop strategy. Schumacher's rapid pace in the refuelling era saw him emerge from his final stop at the head of the field to reignite his championship challenge. Five years later in 2003, Fernando Alonso starred for Renault by taking pole by a quarter of a second, easing away from the opposition, and even putting a lap on both team mate Jarno Trulli and reigning champion Schumacher to become Formula 1's then-youngest winner at the age of 22, and Spain's first ever Grand Prix winner.

The venue struck again in 2006 when wet weather hit Hungary for the first time. Jenson Button suffered a 10-place grid penalty after his Honda engine let go during practice, dropping him from fourth in Qualifying to 14th on the grid. But as early leader Kimi Raikkonen wiped himself out by clattering into backmarker Vitantonio Liuzzi, and Fernando Alonso crashed after a wheel nut detached on a drying track, Button kept his composure to hurtle up the order and win by half a minute. The following year brought pure political theatre in 2007's qualifying session, where Lewis Hamilton went out ahead of Fernando Alonso in contravention of team instructions, prompting Alonso to linger in the pit box in front of Hamilton to deny him a final flying lap. Alonso took pole, but picked up a five-place grid penalty while McLaren was stripped of constructors' points for the weekend before Hamilton duly triumphed on Sunday.

In 2014, a wild wet/dry race saw title rivals Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton bookend the grid after Hamilton suffered a Q1 failure. While Rosberg lost out through early Safety Car timing amid heavy crashes for Marcus Ericsson and Sergio Perez, Red Bull newbie Daniel Ricciardo thrived. Ricciardo passed Hamilton around Turn 2 and dove past Fernando Alonso into Turn 1 with two laps remaining to steal a famous win. Five years later in 2019, Max Verstappen took his maiden pole and kept Hamilton at bay, but Mercedes gambled by pitting Hamilton for a second time. Giving him fresher tyres and free air left Hamilton facing a 15-second deficit, but he carved through the gap to make the winning move with four laps remaining, leaving Verstappen as the only driver within a minute of the winner.

The chaos scaled even higher in the wet start to 2021, where Valtteri Bottas misjudged Turn 1 and wiped out Lando Norris and Sergio Perez while heavily damaging Max Verstappen's car, as Lance Stroll clattered into Charles Leclerc and spun Daniel Ricciardo. When the circuit dried during the stoppage, every driver bar Lewis Hamilton pitted for slicks, leaving Hamilton to line up entirely alone on the grid. Once Hamilton finally pitted, Alpine's Esteban Ocon inherited the lead and ran a composed race to pick up an unlikely maiden win, brilliantly aided by team mate Fernando Alonso's resilient defence against a recovering Hamilton. Most recently in 2024, Lando Norris topped Qualifying but McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri made the better start to lead early. After the pit stops played out, McLaren gave Norris the advantageous undercut to protect against Lewis Hamilton, but despite instructions to cede the place back, Norris remained ahead until he eventually slowed with three laps remaining to let the sister car through, handing Piastri his first Grand Prix win.