Will Hamilton Make Hungarian GP History? - F1 Preview

Sir Lewis Hamilton is looking to bounce back this weekend in Hungary, with the Hungaroring being one of his favourite circuits in Formula 1. George Russell will also be looking to gain ground on championship leader and fellow Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Here's our full, in-depth preview for this weekend's race.

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Video Transcript

It is time, guys.

Magyar Nagydij, the Hungarian Grand Prix for 2026 is on this weekend.

And as always, I've compiled all of our preview content here on thef1chronicle.com and Formula Reports ahead of this weekend, including, of course, our favorites for the victory this weekend, the drivers who have won the most here over the decades as this event celebrates its 40th anniversary, the fast facts, the track guide, and weather as well.

There has been a mighty Magyar in Formula One competing back in the day.

Of course, there's none on the grid at the moment, but is there a previous example we can look to?

All of that and a whole lot more is included in our complete compilation preview video for you here on the channel, guys.

Let me know your favorite for the victory in the comments below.

And without further ado, let's dive in.

It's race week.

It is time for the Hungarian Grand Prix of 2026.

I love the Hungarian Grand Prix, guys.

I think the Hungaroring is a fine track, and I also think it's one that has produced some brilliant races here over the years.

We had a really good tactical Grand Prix in Belgium last time out, and I'm expecting something similar as well this weekend in Hungary.

But which drivers in particular am I looking out for this weekend?

Let's dive in for my picks for who could spring some surprises, who could very much have a story to tell in Hungary this weekend.

And we're gonna start with a driver who has really been showing some serious resurgence in the last few races, Charles Leclerc.

Of course, he won the British Grand Prix in spectacular style.

And on another day, he could have won the Belgian Grand Prix as well.

He stuck right behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the closing stages and could have done it, but unfortunately for him, didn't quite have the pace in that Ferrari.

But of course, the Achilles heel of Ferrari in 2026 is their engine, not in terms of reliability, but in terms of power.

And he was right on the tail of Antonelli, like I said, the driver who arguably has the best engine in the back of his car in terms of power, definitely not in terms of reliability.

F1, of course, will say that the Red Bull Ford engine is the best on the grid, but you know, I think the Mercedes is definitely up there.

I don't think there's a lot between them.

But despite Silverstone and Spa both being power circuits, particularly Spa, Leclerc was really quick.

Hamilton was not exactly slow either.

We'll talk about him soon.

And Hungary, of course, is not a power circuit.

This is one of the tracks on the calendar that has the least emphasis on overall engine power than any other.

It's a really slow speed circuit.

I mean, people call it Monaco without the barriers.

I think that's doing some injustice too.

I don't think it's quite like that, to be honest with you.

For a start, there are clearly barriers on the outside of the track that will punish you if you go wide.

And also, it's very flowing in places.

It is pretty quick in places, but the high top speed is not there.

The longest straight really heading down to turn one, I mean, they're probably doing 180, 190 miles an hour, which is pretty quick for us.

Us mortals, you know, drive regular cars, but in Formula One, that is a snail's pace for the outright top speed.

So if Ferrari can ace their qualifying, which we know how good Charles Leclerc is in qualifying, that man loves a pole position, then they can absolutely keep their cars at the front.

I have no doubts about that.

Of course, Leclerc will have to make sure he doesn't make a mistake like he did in Belgium.

I don't know how that guy avoided a penalty for the contact on Piastri.

I don't think it was deliberate, but it was dangerous, and it should've got at least a 10-second penalty in my opinion.

If you're gonna give Hamilton a five-second penalty for the contact on Russell, which was much more dubious in my opinion, you gotta be punishing Leclerc for that.

But as it is, he escaped it.

He got lucky.

If you saw his reaction in the post-race cool down room, you know that he knows he got lucky.

Next, let us talk about the guy who was the most successful driver in the history of Formula One, but also in the history of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Sir Lewis Hamilton.

He got his first ever Mercedes win here in 2013.

He's always gone well around the Hungaroring.

Eight victories around this track.

Double the second most on the list with Michael Schumacher, who got four in his career.

He is amazing around here.

He's also up to second place in the driver's standing as well after George Russell retired in Belgium.

And on the whole, all things considered, fourth place I think is actually pretty decent.

He had damage on his front wing.

He didn't get the adjustment he wanted during his pit stop.

He had a five-second penalty.

He made contact with George Russell, which wouldn't have helped his time either.

So I honestly think that fourth and just missing out on a podium is actually a good result, again, around a track that should not suit the Ferrari.

So I think Hamilton has to be a pretty strong bet for at least a podium this weekend in Central Europe.

Next, let's talk about the guy that Hamilton hit, George Russell.

Russell was not even fuming.

He was downright depressed.

He was devastated after the Belgian Grand Prix.

He was almost in tears.

Say what you want about the guy, but clearly this means a lot to him.

You can't doubt that he's given his all very much.

But unfortunately for him, and I don't think it's really his fault to be honest, he got took out.

For me, it was a racing incident, but I understand why they gave Hamilton a penalty there.

But he made all that progress, albeit with a lot of bad luck for Kimi Antonelli with mechanical issues and also what you could argue for being very harsh was a driving mistake at Silverstone, but he was still really unlucky, and especially unlucky with that penalty.

But he closed to within a win, 25 points of Kimi Antonelli.

Now it's 50 points, and he's behind Hamilton in the championship too, which won't have helped.

So George Russell can absolutely recover this.

I mean, we've got more than half the season still to go.

He's closed it down once.

He can do so again.

But it's such a momentum killer.

He got the victory in Austria, he got two solid second places at Silverstone and Barcelona, albeit some good luck in both of those results.

But still, he got the result nevertheless.

It still counts.

And all while the specter of unreliability looms over Mercedes as well.

That Mercedes power unit is not particularly reliable.

Even if they don't have many more mechanical retirements between now and the end of the season, which is a massive if, I would expect them to at least have a few each, they're going to have to take grid penalties as well.

I don't expect them to do so in Hungary because it's so hard to overtake, but again, it doesn't inspire confidence.

So Russell needs a solid result.

He needs at least a podium this weekend, and with the form of the Merce- and with the pace of the Ferrari around low-speed circuits, I think that's gonna be difficult.

Antonelli had a shocker here 12 months ago in Formula 1, but a year before that in Formula 2, this was the site, this was the location of one of Kimi's best ever drives in the junior categories.

And it's a race that I covered as well for f1chronicle.com, and that video absolutely blew up.

I think we got a quarter of a million views, yeah, seriously, on Microsoft, which is really saying something.

So cle- clearly people agreed with me on that one.

Let's get away from the leaders and talk about the rest of the drivers.

One in particular I wanna mention, Gabby Bortoleto.

Bortoleto was superb at Spa.

I mean, we spoke about the unreliability of the Mercedes engine, but their German counterparts, Audi, their reliability has been appalling.

Probably the most unreliable engine, even more unreliable than the Honda.

I mean, it's better than the Honda, but it's probably more reliable than that.

And he's got back-to-back eighth place finishes now in Grand Prix, has Bortoleto, all while Hulk has become the sulk unfortunately for him.

I'm not blaming him by any means.

I mean, he's had a lot of bad luck in terms of reliability, so has Bortoleto, but Hlkenberg's had way more and Hulk doesn't have any points.

Bortoleto, though, is bringing home the Brazilian bacon, as it were.

Bacon, that's making me hungry.

Anyway, less about swine.

Let's talk about, let's talk about Gabby, 'cause I really like him.

You know I really like him.

I spoke to him a couple of years ago when he was still a McLaren junior, as it were, but before he defected to the dark side of Sauber.

How could you, Gabby?

I thought I trusted you.

I thought you were one of my boys.

But I understand why he did it.

Definitely worked out in terms of career move.

He was never gonna displace Norris and, Piastri realistically in the McLaren, although I do think he's a very good driver.

And of course, he had, I think, probably his best ever drive in Formula 1 here 12 months ago as well.

He finished in sixth place in the Grand Prix in 2025.

Again, if he qualifies well, it's very difficult to overtake around here.

He was excellent 12 months ago.

He has plenty of experience from his F2 and F3 days here.

I think he won the F3 title here as well in 2023, it will be.

So I have every confidence that he'll be able to get a points finish if the car finishes.

And this is a difficult track for cars as well.

It's relatively bumpy, and it's also really, really hot in Hungary as well.

I went here in 2017.

It was a really, really hot race.

I think it was, like, 30 degrees ambient, and I ended up being as red as a Ferrari by the finish because Yeah, I, I mean, I put sun cream on, but not enough as it turns out.

But who's the last guy I'm gonna talk about?

Well, I'm gonna talk about Max Verstappen here.

I mean, I was tempted to say Isack Hadjar.

Isack had a really good race in Belgium, going from the back of the grid all the way up to sixth by the finish.

But I gotta talk about Max because he's a disrupter.

He could cause some real problems.

Of course, he qualified up in second place in Spa, and he finished third in the end, in a, in a car that, that he didn't really enjoy driving towards the end.

He did not like the hard tires on that car for his second and final stint.

If he gets a good position in qualifying, I see no reason why he can't get another podium.

Both Hadjar and Verstappen have been complimentary about the improvements of the Red Bull as well over the past few weeks.

It seems like they're getting their act together.

And with McLaren being a bit meh, average really, I, I think that Red Bull can make a charge for third in the Constructors'.

They got some work to do, don't get me wrong, but it could happen, and Verstappen is the guy to very much change things if he's able to as well.

But yeah, your thoughts in the comments below about my five picks, guys.

I was tempted to put Lando in there as well, of course, the winner from 12 months ago, but McLaren, I, I'm not really liking them at the moment.

They are pretty average, to say the least.

They need to improve things in the summer break.

They need that summer break today, but they got one more race before it, before we head to the Netherlands, of course, in, like, five weeks' time or whatever it is.

Like, share, comment, and subscribe as always, guys, and we'll see you soon for much more content on the world of Formula 1.

Get your pick for the winner in the comments below.

For me, I'm going Hamilton.

I'm going Sir Lewis.

He's good around here.

That Ferrari should be good around here.

He's riding the wave of confidence at the moment.

But Leclerc and Antonelli and Russell, they'll all be in the mix too, and don't rule out Max Verstappen either.

It's race week, guys, and it's Magyar Nagydij.

The Hungarian Grand Prix is back this weekend for the 2026 edition.

And as always, ahead of the event, let's have a look at as many fast facts as you can handle in less than five minutes.

Let's dive in.

Let's, let's go on thef1chronicle.com and formula reports.

This year, the Hungaroring is celebrating its 40th anniversary in Formula 1, having first appeared on the calendar in 1986, and it has hosted a Grand Prix every single season since.

Not even the virus of unknown origin could stop the Hungarian Grand Prix in Formula 1.

The circuit features 14 corners, six to the left and eight to the right.

Many of these follow one after the other in quick succession, meaning that a well-balanced car that can handle directional changes is important for lap time, and it also means that overtaking has been rather difficult here as well.

However, despite a relatively short start-finish straight, the distance from pole position to the braking zone for turn one measures at 440 meters, actually on the long side in Formula 1.

Given the prevalence of slower corners, good traction is very important here.

That is why the circuit puts the rear tires under a lot of stress.

The fronts, though, don't really take too much of a battering here.

George Russell scored his first Formula 1 pole position in Budapest in 2022, having previously held the all-time lap record in any formats as well.

Did it in a test in 2017.

Not sure if he's still got that record or not.

Let me know in the comments below.

Mercedes-Benz power recorded its 600th Formula 1 podium at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix.

But will they get some more this weekend?

Let me know in the comments.

Despite never being that late in the season, two Formula 1 champions have been crowned here when they've had extremely dominant seasons.

Nigel Mansell getting his only title in Formula 1 in 1992, and also Michael Schumacher getting his fourth in Formula 1 in 2001.

Kimi Antonelli's maiden Formula 2 feature race win came in Hungary in 2024.

At the time, he was the youngest multiple winner in the series' history, having also won at Silverstone in the sprint race a few weeks earlier.

And that was one of our first videos to really blow up in 2024, was the F2 review that weekend Red Bull Racing have scored 14 podium finishers at the Hungaroring since entering the sport in 2005, tied with Mercedes and Ferrari for the most at the venue during that time.

Last year's Hungarian Grand Prix was Max Verstappen's 200th Grand Prix start for Red Bull Racing, becoming only the second driver after Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes to reach 200 for a single constructor.

Not even Michael Schumacher managed that at Ferrari.

And there we go, guys, fast facts.

It's a really good circuit is the Hungaroring.

I didn't used to like it back in the day, but it's really, really grown on me, partly driven by the fact that most new circuits in Formula One these days are pretty trash.

But hey, you gotta make the most of what you got, and Hungary is always a race that I look forward to, and I'm looking forward to it as well this weekend, guys.

Who's gonna get the race victory?

I'm gonna go with Sir Lewis to get a ninth victory in Formula One around the Hungarian Grand Prix.

But don't rule out the Mercedes.

Don't rule out the other Ferraris.

Don't rule out the Red Bull Racing car of Max Verstappen.

And who can forget the fact that McLaren were very dominant here 12 months ago?

Although right now they look to be struggling a little bit, don't they?

It's race week, guys.

Magyar Nagydij is on this week, the Hungarian Grand Prix for 2026.

I love this track.

It is one that for me has really grown on me over the years through the combination of the fact that it has produced some fantastic races, some real surprise results like we saw in 2021, like we saw in 2014, 2015, just to name a few.

And of course, you go back as well, you got some all-time classics.

1997, which looks like winning the poll this week for the retrospective review treatment.

Surprised there's not many votes for 1998, but hey, that's the, what the audience is saying, and I need to respect it.

But of course, we can't do a Formula One race weekend without talking about the track itself, doing a proper track guide here for Hungary.

So let's dive in, guys.

Let's go with our full in-depth track guide for the Hungaroring.

Celebrating, of course, its 40th anniversary in Formula One, this was the first ever race behind the Iron Curtain in what used to be known as the Warsaw Pact or Eastern Europe.

Of course, we've raced at Sochi in the 2010s and at the start of the 2020s, but of course, Russia's been a very naughty boy over the last few years, to say the least, so they're kicked out of Formula One for now.

So this is still the only track in Formula One that is on the calendar in parts of what used to be known as Eastern Europe, although Hungarians will classify themselves as Central European no doubt these days.

And the Hungaroring has changed a little over the years.

When it first came onto the calendar, it looked like this.

It's got the same main characteristics for sure, but there have been some notable changes over the decades.

That little loopy section around where turn three is now, that has been altered to be a more straight run in 2026.

That admittedly went a long, long time ago, and I'm glad they did.

It does help the flow of the track.

The other main change is around what is now turn 12.

It was a more direct run going to turn 13.

Nowadays, though, it's a bit more technical.

You've got a minor overtaking opportunity into turn 12 as a result.

I think they've made some positive changes here over the years.

But of course, it's a very difficult track to overtake around.

It's not very quick, and hence why I didn't really used to like it growing up, to be honest.

I never really used to look forward to the Hungarian Grand Prix, even as someone who liked to see Lewis Hamilton do well.

He might do well this weekend, of course.

Watch this space.

He's been very, very successful around here over the years.

But let's get into the track guide itself in 2026, guys.

So the pitch straight is the real main overtaking opportunity on the track.

We've seen some incredible overtakes around here over the decades, but going into turn one is unsurprisingly the main overtaking point.

I imagine this will be the only overtaking zone on the track.

There will also be straight zones, I think, probably between turns one and two, turns three and four.

I mean, we saw it on the run down to Eau Rouge, of course, in Belgium, so I imagine we're gonna get a straight zone between three and four here, and probably another one between turn 11 and 12, but the only overtaking zone will most likely between turns 14 and 1.

Turn 1 is really wide.

You can run a number of different lines around here, and if you send it down the inside, you can overtake, but you don't wanna leave yourself vulnerable going down to turn two, which is arguably an even better overtaking point.

Again, you can run two cars wide through here.

There aren't multiple lines here, and if you run wide, you will get a better run going on to turn three, which is usually full throttle even these days, and then up on the run to turn four as well.

You can pass into turn four, but you need to be really brave and have confidence in the other driver.

It's pretty much blind going on the apex.

It's a thrilling corner.

Turn five is effectively a long horseshoe, and that can set you up to be able to pass into turn six, the chicane, but the run to there is really, really short.

Turn six and seven is a tricky little chicane, and then you've got a faster flowing chicane for turns eight and nine.

Turn 10 is effectively a kink to the left.

Turn 11, I mean, that's basically a, the kink to the right in recent times in Formula One.

But with the downforce being less on these cars than in the past and the straight-line speed being higher, this might actually be quite a challenging corner because, again, you could be vulnerable heading into turn 12, which is an overtaking point.

It's a very slow corner.

Turn 13 and turn 14 are effective mirror images of each other, long left and then right-handers.

Turn 13 is not overly important, but turn 14, you have to make sure you ace that because if you don't get a run out of that, then you're gonna be vulnerable to the car behind.

The pit's entry is basically on the inside of turn 14.

You need to turn right and miss turn 14 as a result.

Pit lane here is pretty tight as well.

We s- could see some carnage this weekend as for the drivers are all stopping under a safety car period or something like that.

And like I said, I really like Hungary.

I mean, I think in theory it's not a particularly amazing track, but it produces good races, so, you know, I'm not gonna complain too much about that.

And I'm happy for it to stay on the calendar.

I mean, it's a combination of, I think, it producing good races in recent times, and also a lot of the new tracks in Formula 1, I'm looking at you, Hermann Tilke, you know, not being that inspiring on the whole, it must be said.

But yeah, I like Hungary, guys.

It's a fantastic race to go to as well as a spectator.

It's the cheapest one to go to in Europe, and if you stand on the t- outside of turn 14 like I did, you get views of, like, two-thirds of the track.

It's only really that top left-hand corner around turn four, five, six that you don't see from that vantage point.

It's brilliant.

You usually get lots of Germans and Fins there these days, and they like to drink.

I may have had a few pints in the train station while I was waiting for the train to get back to Budapest after the Grand Prix in 2017.

I'll try and dig out some photos of me going to that event, guys.

Like, share, comment, subscribe as always, guys, and we'll see you soon for much more content on the world of Formula 1 here on the f1chronicle.com and Formula Reports.

Kimi, Kimi, Kimi, Kimi, Kimi, Kimi, Kimi, Kimi, Kimi.

Woo-woo.

Woo.

It's race week once again, guys, and we've got the Hungarian Grand Prix on this weekend.

But which drivers have been the superstars around the Hungaroring over the decades?

The track has been revamped, but the layout has remained almost the same ever since it first joined the calendar back in '86.

Being a landmark event in Formula 1, the first ever Grand Prix held behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War while it was still raging, and also the first in Eastern Europe as well.

And to this day, it's still the only track that's properly in Eastern Europe, in my opinion.

The Russian Grand Prix has come and gone.

Azerbaijan, some people might say that's Eastern Europe, but for me, it's not even really Europe, personally.

But which drivers have done the best round here over the decades, guys?

I've got all the multiple winners here to make a top five and beyond.

There are three drivers that have won three or more times, but there are over half a dozen that have won two times.

I'm gonna quickly run through the two-time winners, then get into the guys who have won three or more.

So going in the order that they achieved this feat, the first was Nelson Piquet, who won the first two Hungarian Grand Prix back-to-back in 1986 and 1987.

Damon Hill won for Williams in 1993 and in 1995.

Jacques Villeneuve also winning in '96 and '97, also for Williams.

Damon Hill, of course, famously missing out in 1997, driving for his Arrows.

Villeneuve swept in to get the victory on that day.

Mika Hkkinen made it back-to-back wins as well for himself in 1999 and 2000, driving for McLaren.

Jenson Button got his first ever Formula One victory here in 2006, driving for the BAR Honda.

And it was wet conditions again in 2011 for his second victory, this time for McLaren.

Sebastian Vettel won here twice for Ferrari in 2015 and 2017.

And the most recent to achieve this feat is Max Verstappen, who won back-to-back for Red Bull Racing in 2022 and 2023.

One of only two drivers on this list still currently on the grid.

But let's go back to the past.

Let's go back to the '80s and '90s to find the drivers who, to find the only three-time winner currently of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

That is Ayrton Senna.

Senna won here in 1988 on the way to his first title for McLaren, and he also won in 1991 and 1992 as well.

I believe he had a very controversial clash here with Alessandro Nannini.

Was that 1990?

Was that 1989?

One of those two, for sure.

But yeah, very controversial clash there.

He could have won more around here, but he was very, very good around here.

He was also leading in the early stages in 1986, driving for Lotus, but his compatriot, Nelson Piquet, pulled off one of the greatest overtakes ever.

Full opposite lock.

Absolutely no prisoners taken with that one.

But yeah, Senna winning here three times.

Puts him third on the all-time list, just behind Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher won the Hungarian Grand Prix on the way to his first title as well in 1994, and he also won in 1998, 2001, and 2004, driving for Ferrari.

1998 was an incredible victory in particular, basically needing to set a qualifying lap after qualifying lap for 20 laps or so to overcome the McLarens who were doing one less pit stop.

Ross Brawn came on the radio, "Michael, we need to do 15 qualifying laps here," or words to that effect.

Michael just responded, "Okay."

And then he very much went to go and do exactly that.

Unbelievable driving.

One of the best victories of his career, and I believe he won the title here in 2004 as well, though do correct me if I'm wrong on that one.

But the most successful driver in the history of the Hungarian Grand Prix, and it's not even close.

This guy has double the wins of Michael Schumacher, who is second.

Eight victories around this track.

And he'll be looking to make it nine this weekend.

Of course, it's Sir Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton has been absolutely incredible around Hungary.

Alongside the Canadian Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix, this is without doubt one of his best tracks on the Formula One calendar.

He won in his debut season here in 2007 after the very controversial pit stop fiasco during qualifying with his teammate Fernando Alonso.

He also won in 2009 as well, his only victory that year, in an absolute dog of a McLaren.

He also won for McLaren here again in 2012 as well.

He got his first Mercedes victories here as well in 2013, the following year, and he backed it up with victories for Mercedes also in 2016, 2018, '19, and 2020.

Hamilton always goes well around Hungary.

He looked like he was back on form, at least in the race anyway, at Belgium, but can he do it again?

Can he make it nine victories at this Grand Prix, match his record overall for the British Grand Prix, which he has also won nine times, which is an outright record for any event in Formula One history?

We'll have to see, guys.

The Hungarian Grand Prix has been ever-present on the Formula One calendar since 1986.

The 2025 edition makes this the 40th running of this event in the Formula One era, and we'll obviously celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first Hungarian Grand Prix in 1986 next year.

But which have been the most incredible moments?

Which moments have stood out above the rest as the most absolutely incredible in this Eastern European nation?

And Hungary is a bit of a landmark event.

It was the first race to be held behind the Iron Curtain in what was formerly known as Eastern Europe.

Of course, we had the Russian Grand Prix, that's come and gone, and Azerbaijan.

I don't really count that as Europe, to be honest with you.

That's too east to be Europe, in my opinion.

But which have been the main moments here over the decades at the Hungarian Grand Prix?

Which are the five best, in my opinion?

Well, I've picked out five for you guys, but I could easily do 10, 15.

This is a track that usually produces drama, and here are a few examples of it.

So we'll go all the way back to 1986 for the first of these moments, the first ever race around this track, and we've got one of the best ever overtakes as well.

Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna, despite both being Brazilian, these two did not like each other, it's more than fair to say.

In the early stages of this Grand Prix, Senna led in his Lotus, but Nelson Piquet was on a mission.

He was chasing his compatriot down, but he couldn't get past.

Hungary is a very difficult track to overtake around, and Senna is a very difficult man to overtake as well.

But that didn't stop Piquet putting in one of the most incredible maneuvers I have ever seen in a Formula One car.

He overtook Senna going into turn one on full opposite lock.

You would never, ever see that nowadays.

If you attempted to do that nowadays in a modern Formula One car, you'd be in the gravel or in the wall.

Piquet wrestled his Williams around, though, and went on to take the victory, the first man to win the Hungarian Grand Prix since Tazio Nuvolari back in 1936, well before the Formula One days, of course.

But Senna was overtaken a few times around this track, and very spectacularly on a few occasions as well, and the second of these is another move on him as well in 1989.

This time it was Nigel Mansell who overtook him, who put on one of the most incredible performances in his time at Ferrari.

He really earned the Il Leone nickname that he got from the Tifosi because of performances like this.

He started 12th on the grid, but he managed to power through and win the race, partly thanks to that incredible move that he put on Ayrton Senna as well.

Who says you can't overtake around Hungary?

Mansell absolutely could, and this was without doubt one of the best overtaking maneuvers in his career.

The best?

Let us know in the comments below.

But from one Ferrari legend to another, Michael Schumacher in 1998.

This guy was absolutely incredible.

We know how good Schumacher was, and one of his best ever performances, in my opinion, came at the 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix.

The McLarens were faster.

They were on the conventional strategy, but Ross Brawn had an idea.

How about we make Michael stay out there and absolutely gun it, go as fast as he can for a few laps to do an extra pit stop, burn off all that excess fuel?

He said on the radio to Michael, "We need you to do a bunch of qualifying laps now."

Michael then just said, "Okay," and he proceeded to do so.

As it turns out, Hakkinen had some car problems later on in the race, but he still would have won anyway with Schumacher, such was his incredible performances on what he hoped would have been his first title for Ferrari.

Didn't happen that year, but it would happen a few years later.

And eight years after that moment, let's go to 2006, Jenson Button's first Formula One victory.

Button was tipped as a future world champion.

Of course, he would eventually become a Formula One world champion in the most unlikely of circumstances at a brand-new team at Brawn in 2009.

But at this point, Button's career was kind of stalling.

He had a very good year in 2004, was regularly on the podium, the only guy who got anywhere near to the Ferraris during that year, but he never got the win.

He was waiting so long for a win.

This was his seventh season in Formula One.

When was this victory going to come?

Well, again, it came in incredibly unlikely circumstances.

The first ever wet weather Hungarian Grand Prix was won by Jenson Button in a storming drive from the midfield in the most unlikely of circumstances.

The usual challengers of Michael Schumacher, Kimi Rikknen, and Fernando Alonso all fell by the wayside, and it opened up a route for Jenson Button to take his first victory in the sport.

The pictures of him with his eyes absolutely beaming wide open like that going out of the helmet, it meant everything to him, and all those years of hard work finally paid off.

And of course, he'd get even bigger rewards later on in his career with, of course, that world championship in '09, and eventually driving for McLaren for seven years to bookend his time in Formula One.

But we've got to talk, if we're gonna talk about one specific moment that's just been absolutely manic, I mean, there's been a few of them, but I can't help myself but mention the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.

This was absolutely incredible.

Everybody came into the pits at the start of the race to put on new tires, to put on dry tires, I believe it was, and the only guy who stayed out on intermediate tires to take the grid was Sir Lewis Hamilton, making it one of the oddest shots in Formula One history.

Very, very peculiar, to say the very least, seeing one driver take the five red lights, and it cost Hamilton dearly.

He was hoping to win that race, but was nowhere near it in the end, although I believe he did gain points on his championship rival that year, Max Verstappen.

But we know what happened later on in that campaign.

But yeah, those are five moments that really stand out to me from the Hungarian Grand Prix over the decades, guys.

Which are your favorite moments from Hungary over the years?

Let us know in the comments below.

With the Hungarian Grand Prix on this weekend, I'm asking a simple question Has a Hungarian driver ever competed in Formula 1?

Well, there is one.

There is one driver from a long time ago from Hungary that competed in Formula 1, and that is none other than Zsolt Baumgartner.

He made his debut in 2003 driving for the Jordan team.

He was a test driver at the German Grand Prix towards the back end of the season, but then he made his debut in his home race at the Hungaroring in '03.

He retired from that race, and then he finished 11th at the Italian Grand Prix in the next round.

He was dropped before the US Grand Prix that season.

Then he was picked up by Minardi for 2004 and competed in an entire season.

He had a few close calls, but eventually he managed to get his first points at the United States Grand Prix by finishing in eighth place Indianapolis, the only point ever scored by a Hungarian driver because he's the only Hungarian driver to have competed in Formula 1.

And Hungary's not a country that's got a rich motorsport history really when it comes to this.

I mean, they've not Like I said, th- he's the only driver to ever compete from Hungary.

You know, there's n- there's no others.

I believe there might have been somebody who, there might have been somebody who tested or something like that in the, in the '80s or '90s, but it's been a, it's been a very, very long time either way.

There's not been a, there's not been a Formula 1 driver from Hungary in that time.

As far as I'm aware, there's no one really coming through either.

There's nobody in Formula 2 that's, Hungarian.

There's nobody in Formula 3 that's Hungarian either.

And for some reason, they're just a country that don't produce many Formula drivers, many drivers who drive in single seaters.

They might be good at other motorsports, but I've not found, I've not seen it.

I've not seen many in, in rally or anything like that.

And it's interesting really because you've got the Hungaroring in Hungary, which has hosted the Hungarian Grand Prix every year since 1986.

You'd think that'd kind of, you know, inspire them a m- maybe.

I don't know, but it, for some reason, it's just not an interest for them on, on the highest level.

But yeah, after 2004, he never returned to Formula 1 after that.

And fair play to him though, he did, he did manage to score a point at the USA, in a Minardi, which is not an easy thing to do at all.

It was his fir- sorry, it was Minardi's first point in over two years.

But yeah, since that, since Formula 1, he's competed in Champ Car, which is basically what IndyCar sort of was, and then there was a weird branch off and there was a, there was a whole rivalry.

It was really complicated.

I've done a video on The Indy Car Chronicle about it if you wanna check it out, guys.

It's very complex, I won't lie to you.

But yeah, he competed in a couple seasons for that before the series folded.

He, he became a test driver as well for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club in Super League Formula.

Super League Formula's another wild, wild series back in the day.

I might do a video about that at some point.

Let me know if you w- you want me to, guys, because it's, yeah.

That was weird.

You know, you had football teams competing in a motorsport series, which is just bizarre.

But yeah, I, I can't find anything on him since then.

He's disappeared into the ether as it were.

Yeah, he's 43 years old and he was born in Debrecen.

That's, that's, that's, that's all I can really tell you.

But yeah, Zsolt Baumgartner remains the only Hungarian Formula 1 driver, and will likely remain the only Hungarian Formula 1 driver for a long time to come.

But yeah, guys, we'll, we'll leave it there with this one.

And of course, do keep it tuned to the f1chronicle.com for much more video content in the lead-up to the Hungarian Grand Prix just like this

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