Interesting facts before the Hungarian Grand Prix
Following the string of exciting races, Formula One made a stop in Hungary for round 12 of the 2018 Championship. The twisty track of Hungaroring is usually a mighty challange for drivers due to the extremely high temperatures and its corner-after-corner nature.
So far, sixteen different drivers have won the Hungarian Grand Prix over its 32 editions.
Four drivers have taken maiden victories in Hungary - Damon Hill in 1993, Fernando Alonso in 2003, Jenson Button in 2006 and Heikki Kovalainen in 2008.
Three drivers claimed their maiden Grand Prix podiums at the Hungaroring - Jos Verstappen, Pedro de la Rosa and Timo Glock.
This weekend features three support series – Porsche Mobil 1 SuperCup, GP3 and Formula 2 are all continue their world tour.
The official lap record is 1:19.071 set by Michael Schumacher during the 2004 Hungarian Grand Prix. However, the fastest ever lap was achieved in yesterday's thrid free practice session by Sebastian Vettel who clocked a stunning time of 1:16.170 on Pirelli's ultrasoft tyres.
The governing body FIA only mandated two DRS zones, the first one is on the main straight 40m after Turn 14 while the second one is 6m after Turn 1. The two zones share a detection zone 5m before Turn 14.
The original Hungaroring built in 1986 had a length of 4014m. The 1989 reconstruction work saw the track getting shortened to 3975m while the latest modification to the race circuit increased its total length to 4381m.
Interesting notes about the race-hosting Hungary
Hungary is an ultra successful country in the history of the Summer Olympic Games. It has won a total of 448 medals which puts it 9th among the 211 participating nations.
Europe's probably most beautiful building, the Hungarian Parliament was built in 1896 to celebrate Hungary's millenial brithday. The building has a stunning architecture both from inside and outside. No less than 40kg of solid gold was used in its construction.
Budapest' first metro line is the oldest metro line in continental Europe.
In contrary to many other countries, Hungarians use their last name first when introducing
It was Hungarian, Péter Besenyei who made huge contribution to the famous Red Bull Air Race competition. He was the first pilot to test the so-called Air Gates in 2002. 2003 saw the birth of the Red Bull Air Race Championship, the first round haven taken place in Austria while the second race in Budapest. Besenyei was crowned the champion in the inaugural season of this stunning aircraft competition.
Hungary has one of the most important thermal spring culture in Europe. The country has no less than 1500 spas, most of them feature Roman, Greek or Turkish architecture.
Some quite important daily objects were invented by Hungarians, including the noiseless match, the electric bulb and the Rubik's cube. The Budapest-born János Neumann who was generally regarded as the foremost mathematician, made major contribution to computing (Neumann architecture, linear programming), physics (quantum mechanics), mathematics (functional analysis, numerical analysis). The also Budapest-born Edward Teller is known colloquially as the father of the hydrogen bomb.
The city of Budapest was officially created on 17 November 1873 by the merging of three towns – Buda, Pest and Óbuda.
