The Hungarian Grand Prix has appeared on the Formula 1 calendar in every season since 1986 at the Hungaroring, just outside of Budapest. Here are all the facts and statistics you need to know about the Hungarian Grand Prix!
Track length: 4.381km
Race length: 306.630km
Laps: 70
Turns: 14
Circuit opened: 1985
F1 first visited: 1986
Races held: 37
Track Record: 1:13.447, Lewis Hamilton, 2020
Lap Record: 1:16.627, Lewis Hamilton, 2020
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX WINNERS
There have been 37 races held at the Hungaroring, with the Hungarian Grand Prix having been ever-present on the F1 calendar since the race was first held as a round of the World Championship in 1986. The event made history when it was first held, being the first F1 event to take place behind the Iron Curtain.
From the 37 races at the track, there have been 19 different winners.
Hamilton has the most Hungarian Grand Prix wins
Lewis Hamilton has the most wins of any driver, with eight. Another win would see him set a new record for most victories at a single circuit in Formula 1.
There are four previous winners of the Hungarian Grand Prix on the current grid. Lewis Hamilton has the most wins, with eight, while Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Max Verstappen have each won here once.
Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Jacques Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen and Lewis Hamilton are the five drivers who have taken back-to-back Hungarian Grand Prix victories. In 2020, Hamilton became the first driver to win the Hungarian Grand Prix in three consecutive seasons.
The longest streak of different winners at the Hungaroring came between 2002 and 2008, when there were no repeat winners for seven seasons.
British drivers have had more wins than drivers of any other nationality at the circuit, with 13 wins.
Two Grand Slams have been recorded in Hungary
Two drivers have recorded a Grand Slam at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Damon Hill took pole position, led every lap and set the fastest lap on his way to victory in the 1995 Hungarian Grand Prix, while Michael Schumacher achieved the same feat at the 2004 Hungarian Grand Prix.
McLaren have more Hungarian Grand Prix wins than any other team
McLaren are the team with the most victories, having won in Hungary 11 times.
Mercedes are the engine manufacturer with the most wins here, with Mercedes-powered cars winning at the Hungaroring 13 times.
The longest streak of victories for a team at the Hungaroring is three, which has happened three times. Williams won all three events between 1995 and 1997, McLaren won the three races in 2007, 2008 and 2009, while Mercedes won all three races between 2018 and 2020.
Damon Hill holds the record for largest winning margin in Hungary
The Hungarian Grand Prix has been won by less than five seconds on 13 occasions, and has been won by less than ten seconds 19 times.
Damon Hill holds the record for the largest win margin at the track, having won by 71.915 seconds in 1993. The race was Hill’s debut Formula 1 victory. Meanwhile, Thierry Boutsen won by the smallest margin at the track, having finished just 0.288 seconds ahead of Ayrton Senna in 1990.
The overall average win margin at the Hungarian Grand Prix is 13.956 seconds. From the last ten races at the Hungaroring, the average win margin is 8.899 seconds.
ON THE PODIUM
38 different drivers have finished on the podium at the Hungaroring.
Hamilton has taken 11 podiums in Hungary
Lewis Hamilton holds the record for most podium finishes at the venue, recording his 11th top three finish in 2022.
From the current grid, there are eight drivers who have previously finished on the Hungarian Grand Prix podium. Lewis Hamilton has 11 podium finishes here, Fernando Alonso has five. Next on the list is Max Verstappen, with three podiums, Valtteri Bottas has finished on the Hungarian Grand Prix podium twice, while Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz and George Russell have each recorded their first Hungarian Grand Prix podium finishes in the last two seasons.
British drivers have taken the most podiums of any nation, with 30 top three finishes.
Ferrari have the most podiums of any team
Ferrari have had more podiums than any other team at the track, with their cars finishing on the podium on 26 occasions.
There have been nine occasions on which a team has recorded a 1-2 finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The most recent was for Ferrari in 2017. Ferrari have had the most 1-2 finishes at the Hungaroring, with four.
A podium has been recorded by a pit lane starter
The polesitter has finished on the podium at the Hungaroring 25 times.
While Jenson Button’s win at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix from 14th on the grid is the lowest grid slot which a podium finish has come from, Lewis Hamilton finished in third place here in 2014 having started from the pit-lane, which is the furthest back a podium finish has come from at the track.
There have been ten occasions on which all of the top three on the grid have finished on the podium at the Hungaroring. The 2002 and 2017 races here are the only times on which the top three on the grid finished in the order in which they started.
The 2006 and 2014 Hungarian Grands Prix are the only times that none of the top three qualifiers finished on the podium at this track.
POLESITTERS
There have been 16 different polesitters at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hamilton holds the Hungarian pole record
Lewis Hamilton set a new record for most pole positions at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2021, with his eighth pole position at the Hungaroring.
There are four previous Hungarian Grand Prix polesitters on the 2023 grid. Lewis Hamilton has the most with eight. Fernando Alonso has taken pole here twice, while Max Verstappen and George Russell both recorded the first pole positions of their career at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2019 and 2022 respectively.
Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are the four drivers to have taken back-to-back poles at the circuit. No driver has taken more than two consecutive poles here but, impressively, Schumacher took back-to-back poles at the Hungaroring on three separate occasions.
German drivers have taken more poles here than any other nation with 12; with Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel adding a further five poles to Michael Schumacher’s total of seven. Britain sit one behind, on 11.
There have been only two occasions on which the fastest qualifier did not start from pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Alain Prost stalled on the grid at the 1993 Hungarian Grand Prix and started from the back, while Fernando Alonso was demoted five positions on the grid following his antics in qualifying at the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Three teams are tied for the most poles at the Hungarian Grand Prix
McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes are all currently tied for the most poles for a team at the Hungaroring, with eight each.
Williams, Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes are the five teams to have taken successive poles at the Hungaroring. Mercedes hold the record for most consecutive pole positions at the track, having taken pole on every occasion between 2013 and 2016. They’re also currently on a streak of three successive poles at the track.
There have been 15 occasions on which a team has locked-out the front row at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Six of those occasions have been in the last eight Hungaroring races.
Senna is the only driver to take pole by over a second
The largest pole margin was in 1991, when Ayrton Senna took pole by 1.232 seconds. That’s the only time pole has been taken by over a second here.
The smallest pole margin at the track came in 2019, when Max Verstappen took pole by just 0.018 seconds.
Pole has been taken by less than a tenth at this track on seven occasions, most recently in 2022.
Overall, the average pole margin at the Hungarian Grand Prix is 0.300 seconds. The average pole margin from the last ten races at the Hungaroring is 0.215 seconds.
SATURDAY TO SUNDAY
The Hungarian Grand Prix has been won from pole 16 times and has been won from the front row 23 times. That means 14 races here have been won from third or further back on the grid – including in each of the last two seasons.
The furthest back a win has come from here is 14th on the grid, a feat which Jenson Button performed in 2006. Nigel Mansell’s win from 12th in 1989, Esteban Ocon’s 2021 victory from 8th on the grid and Max Verstappen’s victory from 10th in 2022 are the only other times that the Hungarian Grand Prix has been won from lower than fourth on the grid.
There have only been nine occasions on which the polesitter has finished on the Hungarian Grand Prix podium without winning the race. It has happened in three of the last four seasons.
There have been five occasions on which the polesitter has not led at the end of the first lap at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The last driver to fail to do so was Nico Rosberg in 2016.
Aside from Alain Prost, who stalled and started from the back in 1993, the worst position for a Hungarian Grand Prix polesitter at the end of the opening lap is tenth – which is the position in which Lewis Hamilton completed Lap 1 in the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix. Those are the only two occasions on which the polesitter has not been in the top two positions at the end of the first lap.
SUNDAY STATISTICS
In total, there have been 2,704 Grand Prix racing laps completed so far at the track.
Kimi Raikkonen has raced the most laps at the Hungarian Grand Prix, completing 1,222 racing laps at the Hungaroring throughout his career. Fernando Alonso will overtake his tally in 2023, if he reaches the sixth lap of the race.
In 2022, Williams became the first team to have raced 5,000 laps in total at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Since 1986, 872 cars have been entered into the Hungarian Grand Prix. Of those, 829 qualified for the race and 828 started the race. From the 828 cars which have started the Hungarian Grand Prix, 559 have reached the chequered flag. That gives a finish rate of 67.5%.
The highest number of cars to finish a race here is 21, which happened in both 2012 and 2016.
The fewest number of drivers to cross the finish line in a Grand Prix at the Hungaroring is eight, which happened in 1996.
In the 37 races held at the Hungaroring, there have been a total of 20 first lap retirements. The highest number of cars to be eliminated on Lap 1 of the race is four, which happened in both 1992 and 2021.
Felipe Massa is the only driver to record a DNS at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He did so following his crash in qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The highest number of drivers to finish on the lead lap of the race here is 14, which happened in 2012 and 2015. The lowest number is two. Damon Hill and David Coulthard were the only two drivers to finish on the lead lap back in 1995.
Raikkonen and Schumacher share the most fastest laps at the Hungarian Grand Prix
21 different drivers have set the fastest lap at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher are currently tied for the most fastest laps at the track, having set the Sunday pace four times each at the Hungaroring.
Williams and Ferrari are tied as the teams to have taken the fastest laps on the most occasions at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hamilton has led the most Hungarian Grand Prix laps
Lewis Hamilton holds the record for most laps led at the Hungaroring. He has led 487 laps here during his career. That’s almost 200 more than Michael Schumacher, who sits second in the list.
30 drivers have led a a lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix in its World Championship history. That list includes 11 drivers who’ve never won at the track. Riccardo Patrese holds the record for most laps led in Hungary without a win, having spent 90 laps at the front of the field.
There have been only seven occasions on which the winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix has led every lap of the race. Lewis Hamilton, in 2007, is the last driver to achieve this feat.
There have been nine occasions on which the winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix has not been the driver who led the most laps of the race.
The fewest laps led en-route to victory at the Hungaroring is one. Jacques Villeneuve led only a single lap on his way to winning the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Red Flags and Safety Cars at the Hungarian Grand Prix
Six races at the Hungaroring have featured at least one full Safety Car period.The 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix was the first race at the circuit which featured a full Safety Car period since 2017.
The 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix is the only race at the track which has featured more than one Safety Car outing, though there were two Virtual Safety Car periods in both the 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix and the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Four races at the Hungaroring have been affected by rain: 2006, 2011, 2014, 2020 and 2021.
The 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix was the first F1 race at the Hungaroring to be red-flagged. It was stopped following the first lap collision between multiple drivers.
There have been three occasions on which the Hungarian Grand Prix did not reach its scheduled distance. The first race here in 1986 ran to the two hour time limit before the scheduled number of laps was reached, while the 2012 and 2015 races were shortened by one lap due to drivers pulling into the wrong grid slots on the formation lap. Read more: F1 Races Which Did Not Reach Full Distance.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY
A World Champion has been crowned twice at the Hungaroring. Nigel Mansell won the 1992 championship here, while Michael Schumacher won his fourth title at the track in 2001.
The Constructors’ Championship has been decided at the Hungaroring on four occasions. Williams won the title here in 1996, while Ferrari won the title as a result of the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2001, 2002 and 2004.
There has never been a dead rubber race at the Hungaroring. However, the Drivers’ Championship had already been decided before the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2002.
There have been only 12 occasions on which the winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix has gone on to win the title in the same season. In 2018, Lewis Hamilton ended a 13 year streak of the winner of this race not winning the championship.
The Hungarian Grand Prix polesitter has gone on to win the title in the same season on 16 occasions.
The leader of the championship after the Hungarian Grand Prix has gone on to win that year’s title in 26 of the 37 seasons in which the race has been held. 2021 was the first time this did not happen since 2017.
There have been only five occasions on which the team leading the Constructors’ Championship after the Hungarian Grand Prix has failed to go on and win the title that year. It most recently happened in 2007, when McLaren led the title race after the event.
Read more Hungaroring statistics from last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix: 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix Post Race Stats
