Post Card from Budapest
Hungarian History
Hungarian success in Grand Prix racing goes back to the very first Grand Prix in 1906, the French event at Le Mans. Winner was Hungarian driver Ferenc Szisz.
Then came the wars, and then came the hammer and sickle and the subsequent uprising.
In 1986, Mister Bernard Ecclestone pierced the Iron Curtain for an F1 race at the Hungaroring, near Budapest. The race saw an all-Brazilian front row with Ayrton Senna on pole in his JPS-Lotus with Nelson Piquet alongside in his Williams-Honda.
That man from Rio, who had schooling in California, won the race after an amazing slip sliding on the outside pass over pole sitter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6HixXpf9Ns
Third man on the podium was good friend to both the Brazilians—our “Nige” in his Red Five Williams.
The following year Piquet and Senna would again share the podium, in same finishing order. Third man on the podium was Alain Prost, then driving for Ron Dennis.
Senna finally takes the top step of the podium in his McLaren in 1988. Teammate Prost was second and Thierry Boutsen was third for Benetton. Today the Belgian is brokering planes for the jet set in Monte Carlo and also running a racing team in his native land.
In 1989, “The best man won today” said the second placed man after he was out maneuvered by race winner while they were trying to lap a slower car. Nigel Mansell was the winner in his Ferrari over Senna. Boutsen was again third.
Boutsen beats boys from Brazil. The Belgian pilot powers his Williams-Renault to his third and final career victory over Senna and Piquet.
In 1990, Boutsen holds off Senna for lap after lap to win the Hungarian Grand Prix. Piquet was third, this time in a Benetton.
In 1991, Senna was the winner over Williams teammates, Mansell and Riccardo Patrese from Padua, Italy.
Two-in-a-row at the Hungaroring for Senna in 1992 over Mansell and Gerhard Berger, Senna’s teammate at McLaren. Mika Hakkinen was fourth in his Lotus.
1993. Won by zero. Damon Hill driving the # 0 Williams-Renault takes his first GP win. Patrese in a Benetton and Berger in a Ferrari completed the podium. BBC Commentator Martin Brundle was fifth in his Ligier.
1994. The German Hungarian uprising starts with Schumacher winning from pole position in his Benetton with teammate Jos “The Boss” Verstappen also on the podium in third. In between them was Damon Hill, still driving the number zero Williams.
1995. Damon Hill. Now in number five wins the race for Williams. His teammate DC was second and Gerhard Berger third for Ferrari. Schumacher retired with 4 laps to with engine failure on his Benetton.
Luca Badoer was 8th in his Minardi, wishing only if he could drive a Ferrari in Formula 1 someday………
Jacques Villeneuve leads a Williams-Renault one-two over Damon Hill in 1996. Jean Alesi also had Renault power in his Benetton and finished third.
Broken Arrow. Born from the Shadows of Don Nichols’ team, Damon’s drive at the Hungaroring almost gave the team their elusive first Formula 1 win.
1997. A real dream maker and heart breaker for Arrows and Damon Hill. The team, founded by ex-Grand Prix driver Jackie Oliver, was looking for its first win after being in Formula 1 since 1977. Damon Hill was looking for his first non-Williams win.
It was all too good till the last lap when hydraulics issues allowed JV to slip by and take the win for the second year in a row. Hill was second over fellow English chap Johnny Herbert in his Sauber. Jarno Trulli was seventh in a Prost-Mugen-Honda.
1998. Schumacher leads a trio of good friends to win the Hungarian Grand Prix. Second; DC for McLaren. Third; JV for Williams. And fourth Damon Hill in a Jordan-Mugen-Honda. And fifth was the man who used to be the boyfriend of the lady who today is Michael Schumacher’s wife. Heinz Harald Frenzten.
1999. Hakkinen over DC in a McLaren one-two. Eddie Irvine was third for Ferrari. Rubinho was fifth for Stewart Racing. Alex Zanardi lasted only 10 laps of the 77 lap race in his Williams. In Y2K, Hakkinen repeated his triumph. Second was Schumacher and DC was third.
In 2001, Schumacher won the race over teammate Barrichello and DC. Little brother Ralf was fourth in his Williams-BMW. Sixth and seventh were two Sauber drivers; Nick Heidfeld and little Kimi Raikkonen.
In 2003, Fernando Alonso wins his first Grand Prix by lapping Michael Schumacher. Hard to believe only four years later he would be slapping Ron for not slowing down his rookie teammate.
Three years later Jenson Button would finally triumph to claim his long awaited maiden win. Last Sunday he celebrated his 200th F1 start with an impressive Hungarian Rhapsody of his own
Hungaroring 2011. Hamilton and Vettel put on a show past Sunday. Button took his second win of the season in impressive style at the track where he scored his first win in 2006.
The Hungaroring was also kind to Heikki Kovalainen, the ever-smiling Finn took his first and only win in 2008 as a McLaren driver.
– Nasir Hameed
Greetings and Goulash Regards.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
