Hungaroring Hungarian GP F1 Track Guide
The Hungaroring has hosted the Hungarian Grand Prix ever since its inception in Formula 1 in 1986. The track celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, but how has it changed over the decades, and where does it rank amongst the all-time greats in the sport's illustrious history?
Video Transcript
It's race week, guys.
Magyar Nagydij is on this week, the Hungarian Grand Prix for 2026.
I love this track.
It's 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 to 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 changes 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, so 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 pit 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 one 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 pits 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 could see some carnage this weekend as 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 One, I'm looking at you Herman 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 Finns 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 One here on thef1chronicle.com and Formula Reports.
Kimi, Kimi, Kimi, Kimi, Kimi, Kimi, Kimi, Kimi, Kimi.
Yay.
Woo-woo.
Woo.
