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HUNGARORING, BUDAPEST GRAND PRIX
01st - 03rd August 2008
Track details
Lap Dist.: 4.381 km-2.722 miles
Race: 70 laps
Race dist.: 306.663 km-190.560 miles
Track record: M. Schumacher - 1:19.071 (Ferrari - 2004)
Race: 70 laps
Race dist.: 306.663 km-190.560 miles
Track record: M. Schumacher - 1:19.071 (Ferrari - 2004)
The first Hungarian Grand Prix was held on June 21, 1936 over a 3.1-mile track laid out in Nepliget, a park near the center of Budapest. The Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union, and Ferrari teams all sent three cars and the event drew a very large crowd. However, politics and the ensuing war meant the end of Grand Prix motor racing in the country for fifty years.
The 1986 Hungarian Grand Prix was the first Formula One race to take place behind the Iron Curtain thanks to Bernie Ecclestone. Taking place at the twisty Hungaroring near Budapest, the race has been a mainstay of the racing calendar. Run in the heat of a central European summer, it also holds the distinction of being the only current Grand Prix venue that had never seen a wet race up until the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Due to the nature of the track, narrow, twisty and often dusty from under-use, the Hungarian Grand Prix is associated with processional races, with crocodiles of sometimes as many as six cars following one another, unable to pass. In 2001, Michael Schumacher equaled Alain Prost's then record 51 Grand Prix wins at the Hungaroring, in the drive.
