The 1986 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the newly constructed Hungaroring on 10 August 1986. It was the eleventh race of the 1986 Formula One World Championship.
It was the first Hungarian Grand Prix since 1936, and the first-ever Formula One race to be held behind the Iron Curtain. The race was attended by 200,000 spectators from across the Eastern Bloc; this stood as a record for a Formula One race for nearly a decade, until 210,000 attended the 1995 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.
The race was notable for the battle between fierce Brazilian rivals Nelson Piquet in his Williams-Honda and Ayrton Senna in his Lotus-Renault. Piquet, after an unsuccessful attempt on the previous lap, managed to pass the Lotus driver around the outside as they went into the first corner, on opposite lock. He also came in for some criticism following the race, especially in the British press, as he had allegedly neglected to tell his team-mate Nigel Mansell about the benefits of a new differential which provided better grip on the slippery, dusty surface (however, it later came to light that Mansell had in fact tried the new diff in practice but had preferred the older one).
The race was won by Piquet, ahead of Senna. Mansell finished 3rd and a lap down in his Williams with Stefan Johansson (Ferrari), Johnny Dumfries (Lotus) and Martin Brundle (Tyrrell-Renault) rounding out the points finishers. Defending World Champion Alain Prost qualified 3rd in his McLaren-TAG, an accident on lap 23 saw him as a non-finisher in what was his 100th Grand Prix start.
Gallery
Classification
Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 12 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 1:32.281 1:29.450 2 6 Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda 1:31.417 1:29.785 +0.335 3 1 Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:33.113 1:29.945 +0.495 4 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:30.516 1:30.072 +0.622 5 2 Keke Rosberg McLaren-TAG 1:34.146 1:30.268 +0.818 6 16 Patrick Tambay Lola-Ford 1:34.187 1:31.715 +2.265 7 28 Stefan Johansson Ferrari 1:35.092 1:31.850 +2.400 8 11 Johnny Dumfries Lotus-Renault 1:36.108 1:31.886 +2.436 9 25 René Arnoux Ligier-Renault 1:36.552 1:31.970 +2.520 10 15 Alan Jones Lola-Ford 1:33.737 1:32.401 +2.951 11 20 Gerhard Berger Benetton-BMW 1:32.886 1:32.491 +3.041 12 26 Philippe Alliot Ligier-Renault 1:35.129 1:32.575 +3.125 13 19 Teo Fabi Benetton-BMW 1:35.265 1:32.707 +3.257 14 7 Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 1:35.337 1:32.956 +3.506 15 27 Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:34.255 1:33.063 +3.613 16 3 Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 1:34.725 1:33.368 +3.918 17 24 Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:36.266 1:33.656 +4.206 18 4 Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Renault 1:35.831 1:34.414 +4.964 19 8 Derek Warwick Brabham-BMW 1:34.561 1:34.502 +5.052 20 23 Andrea de Cesaris Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:37.796 1:34.670 +5.220 21 17 Christian Danner Arrows-BMW 1:36.540 1:35.294 +5.884 22 18 Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 1:37.268 1:35.392 +5.942 23 21 Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:39.564 1:36.232 +6.782 24 14 Jonathan Palmer Zakspeed 1:37.937 1:36.485 +7.035 25 29 Huub Rothengatter Zakspeed 1:42.736 1:38.527 +9.077 26 22 Allen Berg Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:40.984 35:16.483 +11.534
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 6 Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda 76 2:00:34.508 2 9 2 12 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 76 + 17.673 1 6 3 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 75 + 1 lap 4 4 4 28 Stefan Johansson Ferrari 75 + 1 lap 7 3 5 11 Johnny Dumfries Lotus-Renault 74 + 2 laps 8 2 6 3 Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 74 + 2 laps 16 1 7 16 Patrick Tambay Lola-Ford 74 + 2 laps 6 8 4 Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Renault 74 + 2 laps 18 9 26 Philippe Alliot Ligier-Renault 73 + 3 laps 12 10 14 Jonathan Palmer Zakspeed 70 + 6 laps 24 25 René Arnoux Ligier-Renault 48 Engine 9 15 Alan Jones Lola-Ford 46 Differential 10 20 Gerhard Berger Benetton-BMW 44 Transmission 11 18 Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 40 Electrical 22 2 Keke Rosberg McLaren-TAG 34 Suspension 5 19 Teo Fabi Benetton-BMW 32 Transmission 13 24 Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni 30 Engine 17 27 Michele Alboreto Ferrari 29 Accident 15 8 Derek Warwick Brabham-BMW 28 Accident 19 1 Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 23 Suspension/Accident 3 21 Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo 15 Suspension 23 17 Christian Danner Arrows-BMW 7 Suspension 21 7 Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 5 Gearbox 14 23 Andrea de Cesaris Minardi-Motori Moderni 5 Engine 20 29 Huub Rothengatter Zakspeed 2 Radiator 25 22 Allen Berg Osella-Alfa Romeo 1 Turbo 26 Source:
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Nigel Mansell 55 2 Ayrton Senna 48 3 Nelson Piquet 47 4 Alain Prost 44 5 Keke Rosberg 19Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Honda 102 2 McLaren-TAG 63 3 Lotus-Renault 50 4 Ligier-Renault 28 5 Ferrari 16Source:
References