Lewis Hamilton Given His Own Corner as Hungaroring Names All 14 Turns for the Track’s 40th Anniversary

• The Hungaroring has officially named all 14 corners after figures from the circuit’s history to mark the Hungarian Grand Prix’s 40th anniversary
• Lewis Hamilton, the track’s most successful driver with eight wins and nine poles, has Turn 2 named after him
• Hamilton, Nigel Mansell and Jean Alesi will have their handprints cast in concrete and installed permanently at the circuit

Every corner at the Hungaroring now carries an official name, with Lewis Hamilton among the figures honoured as part of celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Fans were invited to vote on suggestions for the names at last year’s event, with a panel that included motorsport professionals who have worked at the circuit going back to the first Hungarian Grand Prix in 1986, along with specialist motorsport media, reviewing the results before the final choices were confirmed. Hamilton, Mansell and Alesi will also have their handprints cast in concrete and installed permanently in the run off area of the circuit as part of the anniversary celebrations.

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Hamilton’s Corner

Turn 2 now carries Hamilton’s name, recognition for a record that makes him the most successful driver in the history of the Budapest circuit. He has won there eight times and taken pole position on nine occasions, a tally no other driver has matched at the Hungaroring.

A Corner for Every Era

The full list of names spans the circuit’s entire history, starting with Turn 1, named Piquet after Nelson Piquet, who won the first two Hungarian Grands Prix and produced one of the race’s defining moments when he passed Ayrton Senna around the outside at that very corner in the inaugural event in 1986.

Turn 3 is named Spring, a reference to the circuit’s location in the Valley of the Three Springs, while Turn 4 honours Nigel Mansell, who won the 1992 race at the Hungaroring to claim his only World Championship, having also come agonisingly close to victory in 1987 before a loose right rear wheel nut forced him out of the lead. Mansell later produced one of the sport’s great recovery drives at the same track, climbing from 12th to win two years after his title triumph.

Turn 5 takes the name Mogyorod after the municipality the circuit sits within, and Turns 6 and 7 are named Driving Center in honour of the Hungaroring Driving Center, the country’s first driver training facility, which opened in 1998. Turns 8 and 9 form the Buda/Pest complex, a nod to the connection between the circuit and the Hungarian capital that has drawn drivers, teams and fans to the race for four decades.

Turn 10 is named Danube after the river that runs through Budapest, while Turn 11 formalises a name fans have used for years, Alesi, after Jean Alesi overcame a crash there in practice in 1995. Turn 12 belongs to Michael Schumacher, who won four times at the Hungaroring and secured his fourth World Championship at the circuit in 2001 by leading the race from start to finish for what was then a record equalling 51st career victory, putting him level with Alain Prost on the all time win list. Turn 13 is named Senna in honour of Ayrton Senna, who took pole position at the very first Hungarian Grand Prix in 1986 before going on to win three World Championships.

The final corner, Turn 14, is named Szisz after Ferenc Szisz, the Hungarian born engineer and head of Renault’s testing department who won the first ever Grand Prix, held in France in June 1906.

Celebrating Four Decades in Budapest

The naming project ties together drivers from almost every era of the sport, from Szisz’s win at the dawn of Grand Prix racing to Hamilton’s dominance of the modern Hungaroring, and gives permanent recognition to a circuit that has held its place on the calendar for forty years, going back to when Formula 1 first arrived behind the Iron Curtain in 1986. That inaugural race was also the first Hungarian Grand Prix in fifty years, and it drew a crowd of 200,000, a record that stood for almost a decade until the 1995 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide. The Hungaroring itself was built from scratch in just eight months by 500 workers, a rushed construction that still produced the venue now hosting its 40th anniversary celebrations.

Naming a section of track after a driver is rare in Formula 1, though not without precedent elsewhere. Hamilton already has the main straight at his home circuit, Silverstone, named after him, renamed the Hamilton Straight in 2020 as the first part of that track ever named for an individual. Interlagos in Brazil also honours Senna, with the opening turn known as the Senna S in tribute to the three time champion from Sao Paulo. The Hungaroring’s new names place Hamilton, Mansell, Alesi, Schumacher and Senna in that same small group of drivers permanently written into the fabric of a circuit.

For Hamilton, arriving in Budapest this weekend as he chases down championship leader Kimi Antonelli, the corner naming adds a personal landmark to a track where his record already stands alone.

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Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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