The change that transformed Hungaroring from Mickey Mouse to magnificent

Some race tracks can polarise F1 fans more effectively than a debate about the 2021 world championship, with the same layout loved by some, and detested equally by others. Take the following quotations as an example.

“I’d have to say the [the most boring F1 race ever was] in 2000 – although most races at the circuit are extremely dull.”

“It’s a great track. It’s a like a big go-kart circuit for Formula 1 so there’s no time to breathe.”

“Such a lousy Mickey-mouse circuit with no place to pass except for the pitstops.”

“In terms of pure driving, I love it.”

“The circuit is so boring it is almost unbearable.”

“The city is beautiful and there are a lot of fans there, but my highlight is the circuit itself. I fell in love with it the first time I drove on it.”

“Utterly worthless track with no redeeming features whatsoever.”

Reader, all these quotations refer to the same circuit, one that fans (quoted from early 2000s racing forums) used to hate, and drivers have often loved due to its challenge.

However, in recent years, spectators have come to adore this slice of ex-communist race track just like the drivers, largely due to the one significant modification it’s had in 39 years.

First run in 1986, Hungaroring was initially described as ‘Monaco without barriers’, which was generally as awful as it sounds.

The track was narrow, twisty, bumpy, and dirty off-line. Not only were there few genuine passing spots, but those that existed were negated by that the fact that the track was so rarely used; the dust off-line usually meant that, by moving away from it, any  potential overtaker almost certainly lost out to those they were attacking.

A strange quirk of this phenomenon is that the race could sometimes throw up unusual race winners – i.e. once someone was in front, they could stay there.

Thierry Boutsen managed to hold off Ayrton Senna in 1990 by not making a pitstop, and Damon Hill used extra-grippy Bridgestone rubber to get to the sharp end in his usually-rubbish 1997 Arrows, only thwarted by a late-race reliability gremlin.

In 1989, Nigel Mansell only managed his sensational charge to victory from 12th on the grid by virtue of being 2sec a lap faster than the opposition. Even that required several moments of classic Mansell bravado to pass.

It also became a track that threw up a lot of first-time winners including Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Heikki Kovalainen, with more recent examples including Esteban Ocon and Oscar Piastri. In between those though, were more a than few uneventful races too.

Along the way, that one relatively simple circuit alteration has completely changed many people’s perception of the Hungaroring – the official Formula 2 social media channels going as far as to describe it as “magical”. Steady on, guys.

As one of the above-mentioned forum users presciently put it two decades ago: “I think with a few good mods, it could be a GREAT track, one that everyone would like.”

Prior to 2003, a lap of the track would barely give drivers a break, which each corner feeling like it was almost connected to the next. Usually run in searing Central European summer heat, competitors would up to 3kg per race in body fluid.

This relative lack of straights compounded the overtaking issue. But, when the main start/finish stretch was extended by 200m (660ft) to 908m (2,979ft) that year, and DRS was added in 2011, a gilt-edged overtaking opportunity was now presented to those on-track.

This profound change to what many described as an oversized go-kart track has meant the complexion of the circuit has been significantly altered.

Now the tension builds as one car follows the other through the winding layout, before launching its attack on the dive into Turn 1.

If they don’t quite manage it, the whole thing ratchets up for another lap as they go again.

This track change has offered up a flurry of key overtakes over the years as well as flashpoints, like Michael Schumacher almost putting Rubens Barrichello into the wall in 2010, Sebastian Vettel diving past Kimi Räikkonen in 2019, in addition to Hamilton and Verstappen duelling that same year, as well as colliding last season.

What’s also helped the Hungaroring is the passage of time – it was previously derided as having little-to-no personality, but compared now to modern, soulless ‘Tilke Dromes’ such as Shanghai and new UAE races like Abu Dhabi, it has tonnes of it.

Add in its closeness to a vibrant, beautiful city and usually great weather, and people now tend to be kinder to the Hungaroring in how they view it through spectacles that are sometimes a bit rose-tinted.

What’s more, when the sunshine breaks and the rain clouds occasionally gather, as is forecasted this weekend, the tight track can produce a thriller.

It’s amazing what one corner change – and 39 years – can do to a place.