Who Was The First-Ever Winner Of The Hungarian GP?

The Hungarian GP is upon us.

And while it might not be an incredibly celebrated event such as the Monaco Grand Prix that is laden with cosmological adjectives, but the Hungarian Grand Prix is a mighty popular event on the Formula 1 calendar. Last lap retirements, utterly rain-soaked sagas and unexpected turnouts; the Hungarian Grand Prix has offered all this and more over a course of history that would have made it to four decades in the year 2026.

Someone from the current grid such as Esteban Ocon may never get enough of contesting at the famous F1 venue for it was back in 2021 that the Frenchman, currently with Alpine, picked up a famous, if also, unexpected maiden career win.

Moreover, icons of the likes of Senna have dominated here in the past while drivers like Fernando Alonso and Sir Lewis Hamilton, the two titans of the current grid, have enjoyed much success at the testing circuit Mogyorod. The great Briton actually has the most number of career wins at the Hungaroring when compared to the rest of the grid; Hamilton is the only driver to have registered eight wins here at Hungary.

Just last year, the action at the famous Hungaroring saw both Mercedes drivers stand on the podium while the top honours went to Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

Further back in the past, the Hungarian Grand Prix saw Vettel and Raikkonen dominating at the 2017 event, where a famous Ferrari 1-2 made the event a firm fan favourite. That win famously came at a time where Mercedes powered by Lewis Hamilton were at their dominant best.

But all of that said, what had happened when the first-ever Hungarian GP took place?

More specifically, what transpired back in the 1986 Hungarian GP?

For starters, to take stock of just how far back in time that was, someone like Fernando Alonso was just five years old when the maiden instalment of the Hungarian GP took place in 1986, then the eleventh round of the world championship.

And the winner of that round that took place nearly thirty seven years ago was Brazilian Nelson Piquet. The triple world champion emerged on the top step of the podium after engaging in a competitive duel with his compatriot Ayrton Senna and Briton Nigel Mansell.

Just imagine how iconic would that podium have been with Senna, Mansell and Piquet emerged as the top three back in ’86?

Rather interestingly, the venue, i.e., the Hungaroring did bear a slightly altered look back in 1986 in comparison to the way the venue looked last year in 2022.

The current approach from turns 1 and 2 is rather pointy and perhaps more biting than what the circuit bore three and a half decades back but the number of laps held here in 1986 were 76. Moreover, turns 8 and 9 today aren’t that widely situated as was the case back then. Turn 13, in 1986, formed the hairpin bend at the track, which isn’t the case today at the Hungaroring.

The overall race distance the drivers covered back then was around 305.064 kms while last year, drivers drove around 306.63 kms.

When Senna was outperformed by Piquet

To talk more about the race-winner, Nelson Piquet had bettered Ayrton Senna, the man who grabbed the pole at the maiden Hungarian GP in 1986.

The contest was punctuated by a fierce battle between two Brazilian greats, Piquet putting his Williams ahead of his compatriot’s Lotus after a nervy contest that spanned several biting laps.

But the way things are going this season, it might not be some form of ultimate surprise to see Red Bull dominating at Hungary in the next few hours. Max Verstappen’s faultless consistency, peppered by the fact that he has not had even a single race retirement augurs well for the Milton Keynes-based outfit ahead of the fiesta on Sunday.

Moreover, the Dutchman would draw confidence from his 2022 win ahead of the twin Mercedes cars. However, the qualifying may have its own plans ahead of the Grand Prix.