2017 Hungarian GP: Ferrari looking for its seventh win at the Hungaroring

The eleventh round of the 2017 Formula One championship is scheduled to take place this weekend, as the Hungaroring track will host the 32nd edition of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Since 1986, the race has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship and Scuderia Ferrari has managed to score six wins during the 31 rounds which took place in Mogyorod near Budapest.

British racing driver Nigel Mansell won the 1989 Hungarian Grand Prix for Ferrari after a marvellous overtaking manoeuvre on Ayrton Senna as the two came upon a back-marker at the same time. It was his second victory for the Maranello team. Riccardo Patrese took a surprise pole position in his Williams, the first and only non-McLaren pole of the season, beating Senna by three-tenths of a second. Gerhard Berger started sixth for Ferrari, while Nigel Mansell was outside the top ten on the grid, but made a good start, rising to 8th at the first corner. Mansell drove an outstanding race at the Hungaroring track and scored Ferrari’s first victory in Hungary.

Michael Schumacher then won the 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix, a race the German driver started 16 points behind Mika Hakkinen, and was behind both McLarens for the first half of the race, which would have effectively ended his championship challenge. Michael Schumacher won the 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix after switching to a 3-stop strategy, which was seen as a masterstroke by tactician Ross Brawn.

Three years later the German Formula One world champions took another win in Mogyorod, as the race saw Michael Schumacher win his fourth World Championship and equal Alain Prost’s record of 51 Grand Prix victories. Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello in the other Ferrari finished second and completed a memorable weekend for the Maranello team, as the 1-2 finish by Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello meant that the Scuderia clinched their third consecutive constructor’s championship.

2004 was once again a positive season for Ferrari, as the Italian team completely dominated the race at the Hungaroring track: the 70-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher after starting from pole position, while his teammate Rubens Barrichello finished second, almost 40 seconds ahead of the nearest opponent, Fernando Alonso, who came in third for Renault. Michael Schumacher won his seventh consecutive Grand Prix with this race, equalling Alberto Ascari’s record.

This was Ferrari’s last victory in Hungary until Sebastian Vettel won the race for the Maranello team 11 years later. The tenth round of the 2015 Formula One season and the 30th Hungarian Grand Prix had an ideal start, as Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen gained the lead off the two Mercedes drivers, taking advantage of the slower starts from Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. By lap 18, the two Ferrari cars in front were unchallenged by Rosberg behind, yet by lap 42, Kimi started to experience engine problems which unfortunately turned out to be an issue with his kinetic electrical unit, thus preventing the Italian side from scoring a perfect 1-2 finish in Mogyorod near Budapest. Sebastian Vettel won his second race of the 2015 Formula One season, in the hope that Ferrari can repeat the positive performance this year and fight for the seventh victory in Hungary.