You might not think it but Formula one was one of the sports that contributed to the end of the Cold War. The then owner of Formula one Bernie Ecclestone was determined to make sure that the Formula one brand be global and relevant and with the demise of some of his North American based races he needed a new angle.
His ideal location was to have a race in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics itself, but the Russians would not go for it. It was then that a Hungarian acquaintance of Ecclestone drew his attention to the country of Hungary and it’s capital Budapest. There was a large motorsport following in the country plus it wasn’t too deep within the Union to push up the costs. At first it was thought the race would be held around the city itself in a race similar to Monaco, but the Government had a much better idea. They decided to build the track outside the city and made sure that it had easy access to a large roadway so that getting to the track was easy. It only took 8 months to build the track, such was the keenness and commitment of the Hungarian people and in 1985 the Hungarian Grand Prix was ready.
It is held in the middle of the summer and is known for being a very hot and dusty track. It is hardly used during the racing season until the Formula one circus comes to town. You can watch in style if you join the Hungary F1 Paddock Club like you can see at edgeglobalevents.com/f1-paddock-club/f1-paddock-club-hungary/ You can enjoy the comforts of some nice hospitality. You can bet the drivers are feeling the same way.
The Hungaroring is very twisty and bumpy too just like the Monaco circuit, it was thought it would be most similar too. Its known as the Monaco without walls so although the owners of F1 never got their race in Budapest they did get a race that was going to be run in the same way as the one in the principality. At least the weather is usually very nice, the first wet race took twenty years to occur.
The race is just after mid-season so it’s usually where the champion elect is starting to make their claim to the
Championship title but track has seen only two championship winners crowned namely Nigel
Mansell in 1992 and Michael Schumacher in 2001.
