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2009 ING Magyar Nagydí­j - Hungarian Grand Prix

Hungarian Grand Prix History:
[spoiler]The first Hungarian Grand Prix (Hungarian: Magyar Nagydíj) was held on June 21, 1936 over a 3.1-mile (5.0 km) track laid out in Népliget[1], a park in Budapest. The Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union, and Ferrari teams all sent three cars and the event drew a very large crowd. However, politics and the ensuing war meant the end of Grand Prix motor racing in the country for fifty years.
A major coup by Bernie Ecclestone, the 1986 Hungarian Grand Prix was the first Formula One race to take place behind the Iron Curtain. Held at the twisty Hungaroring near Budapest, the race has been a mainstay of the racing calendar. Run in the heat of a central European summer, it also held the distinction of being the only current Grand Prix venue that had never seen a wet race up until the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. The first Grand Prix saw 200,000 people[1] spectating, although tickets were expensive at the time. Today, the support is still very enthusiastic, particularly from Finns.[2].
Due to the nature of the track, narrow, twisty and often dusty because of under-use, the Hungarian Grand Prix is associated with processional races, with sometimes many cars following one another, unable to pass. Thierry Boutsen demonstrated this perfectly in 1990, keeping his slower Williams car in front of champion-elect Ayrton Senna, unable to find a way by. The secret to a winning performance at Hungaroring, as well as qualifying well, is pit strategy, best demonstrated in 1998, where Michael Schumacher's Ferrari team changed his strategy mid-race before Schumacher put in one of his finest drives to build up a winning margin after all the stops had been made. Passing is a rarity here, although the 1989 race saw a famously bullish performance from Nigel Mansell in the Ferrari, who started from 12th on the grid and passed car after car, finally taking the lead in splendid opportunist style when Ayrton Senna was baulked by a slower runner. The circuit was modified slightly in 2003 in an attempt to allow more passing.
Other notable occasions in Budapest include first Grand Prix wins for Damon Hill in 1993, Fernando Alonso (in 2003), the first Grand Prix winner from Spain, who also became the youngest ever driver to win a GP, Jenson Button in an incident-packed race in 2006, and Heikki Kovalainen in 2008. Also noteworthy is Damon Hill's stunning near win in the unfancied Arrows-Yamaha in 1997, when his car lost drive on the last lap causing him to coast in second place.
In 2001, Michael Schumacher equalled Alain Prost's then record 51 Grand Prix wins at the Hungaroring, in the drive which also secured his 4th World Title.
The 2006 Grand Prix was the first to be held here in wet conditions. It also saw Mansell's seventeen-year-old record of winning from 12th broken, as Button took his victory from 14th place on the grid.
At the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, it was confirmed that Hungary will continue to host a Formula 1 race until 2016.[/spoiler]

Hungaroring


Circuit Length: 4.381 km (2.722 mi)
Turns: 16
Lap Record: 1:19.071 ( Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004)

Past Winners:

[spoiler]2008 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
2007 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
2006 Jenson Button Honda
2005 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
2004 Michael Schumacher Ferrari
2003 Fernando Alonso Renault
2002 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari
2001 Michael Schumacher Ferrari
2000 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes
1999 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes
1998 Michael Schumacher Ferrari
1997 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault
1996 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault
1995 Damon Hill Williams-Renault
1994 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford
1993 Damon Hill Williams-Renault
1992 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda
1991 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda
1990 Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault
1989 Nigel Mansell Ferrari
1988 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda
1987 Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda
1986 Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda
1937-85 Not held
1936 Tazio Nuvolari Alfa Romeo (Népliget)[/spoiler]

Championship standings after race 9 of 17

Drivers:

1 Jenson Button British Brawn-Mercedes 68
2 Sebastian Vettel German RBR-Renault 47
3 Mark Webber Australian RBR-Renault 45.5
4 Rubens Barrichello Brazilian Brawn-Mercedes 44
5 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 22
6 Jarno Trulli Italian Toyota 21.5
7 Nico Rosberg German Williams-Toyota 20.5
8 Timo Glock German Toyota 13
9 Fernando Alonso Spanish Renault 13
10 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish Ferrari 10
11 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 9
12 Nick Heidfeld German BMW Sauber 6
13 Heikki Kovalainen Finnish McLaren-Mercedes 5
14 Sebastien Buemi Swiss STR-Ferrari 3
15 Robert Kubica Polish BMW Sauber 2
16 Sebastien Bourdais French STR-Ferrari 2
17 Giancarlo Fisichella Italian Force India-Mercedes 0
18 Adrian Sutil German Force India-Mercedes 0
19 Nelsinho Piquet Brazilian Renault 0
20 Kazuki Nakajima Japanese Williams-Toyota 0

Teams:

1 Brawn-Mercedes 112
2 RBR-Renault 92.5
3 Toyota 34.5
4 Ferrari 32
5 Williams-Toyota 20.5
6 McLaren-Mercedes 14
7 Renault 13
8 BMW Sauber 8
9 STR-Ferrari 5
10 Force India-Mercedes 0

Timetable (Local time GMT+2):

Fri 24 July 2009

Friday Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30
Friday Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30

Sat 25 July 2009
Saturday Practice 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying 14:00

Sun 26 July 2009

Race 14:00

yawn

This will be a bad race.

meh

I'm looking at the map and wondering wtf were they thinking originally by laying out a chicane at turn 4.

Underground spring.

When they were building it they found an underground spring that wasn't originally known of so they had to go round it. It was fixed in 1989.

The Hungarian Grand Prix has seen some of the worst races ever and this will be no exception. This will easily be the most boring race of the year if it is to remain dry. Button will be on pole and lead from lights to flag.

I am one of the few who likes this circuit. Million times better than Monaco.

It does have some nice parts its just too hard to pass on.

This track should have mandatory sprinkles around it to make every race there an ultra wet one.

2006 was mayor tast.

Dry race = meh
Wet race = awesome (2006)

This is gonna be so lame

No rain is predicted. Race will be dull as hell but it would be nice to have another 1989.

Luckly there will be MOTOGP and the Brickyard 400 at the same day, because this race is always the worst to watch.

except that we don't have the cars of 20 years ago, so nothing will happen

McLaren will dominate

it is a great startinggrid to use KERS and you can't pass after the start

Not really, if they're clever they can try and fuel relatively heavy, try for about P5 then rocket into the lead and therefore hold everyone up and then set their fast laps and pit and emerge p1

Race will be sooooooo boring

but meanwhile, Alguersuari is confirmed at Toro Rosso. No big surprises here, but the first in-season driver change since Brazil 2007