HungarianGrand Prix

The first Hungarian Grand Prix was held in 1936 on a five-kilometre track laid out in Népliget: a park in Budapest. However, political influences and the ensuing war brought about an absence of Grand Prix racing in the country for a period of fifty years.

At the start of the 1980s, negotiations took place with the Soviet Union with a view to a race being held in Moscow. In the summer of 1983, the attention of Formula One decision makers turned away from Moscow and towards Hungary, whose national sporting authority was keen to put the country back on the map of global motorsport.

Following the initial suggestion of a street race through Budapest, a brand-new circuit in a valley 19 kilometres outside of the city was built. The landscape provided natural vantage points for spectators and in 1986 the Hungaroring opened and held its first Formula One event. It would prove a huge success, with almost 200,000 fans turning out for the race.