The 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hungaroring on 16 August 1992. It was the eleventh race of the 1992 Formula One World Championship. The 77-lap race was won by Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Honda. Briton Nigel Mansell finished second in his Williams-Renault to clinch the Drivers' Championship with five races still to run, with Austrian Gerhard Berger third in the other McLaren-Honda.
At the time, it was the earliest moment in Formula One history the championship has been clinched before the final race. That record would be broken ten years later at the 2002 French Grand Prix when Michael Schumacher clinched the World Championship six races early. The race also marked the final appearance of the Brabham team, which had been competing in Formula One since and had won four Drivers' Championships and two Constructors' Championships. Ferrari celebrated its 500th entry, although its official 500th entry was at the next round in Belgium. Ivan Capelli scored his last point for Ferrari, as well as the last point of his career.
Background Ferrari celebrated its 500th start in a World Championship event as a team, even though Ferrari did not participate in the 1950 French Grand Prix and Peter Whitehead's privateer entry in this race does not count towards the team's participation tally. Although its official 500th entry was at the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix, Ferrari celebrated it in Hungary due to counting Alberto Ascari entry at the 1952 Indy 500. Until 1960, the Indianapolis 500 was considered a round of the World Championship, albeit for reasons more symbolic than logical.
Qualifying Pre-qualifying report After the German Grand Prix, the Fondmetal team replaced Andrea Chiesa with Brabham driver Eric van de Poele. Brabham did not replace van de Poele and reduced their entry to one car. This meant the pre-qualifying pool could be reduced by one, and thus Larrousse driver Bertrand Gachot was no longer required to pre-qualify.
The session proved practically unnecessary as the Andrea Moda team again did not make a serious attempt to run their second car, which was driven by Perry McCarthy. His teammate Roberto Moreno had used both cars to pre-qualify, and McCarthy was only allowed to leave the pits 45 seconds before the end of the session, leaving him no chance to reach the start-finish line to begin a timed lap before the chequered flag was waved. This being the latest in a succession of similar incidents, the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile formally warned Andrea Moda to make a proper effort to run both cars at the next Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, or face suspension from the following event.
The other four cars in the session thus all pre-qualified, with the Fondmetals taking the first two places as Gabriele Tarquini outpaced van de Poele by nearly a second. Ukyo Katayama was another second further back in the remaining Larrousse, with Moreno 1.1 seconds slower in fourth, only his second pre-qualification success this season. McCarthy was the sole entrant to fail to pre-qualify. After the race, the Brabham team withdrew entirely, removing the necessity for further pre-qualifying sessions. To date, this pre-qualifying session was the last to be held in Formula One.
Pre-qualifying classification Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 15 Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford 1:22.412 — 2 14 Eric van de Poele Fondmetal-Ford 1:23.398 +0.986 3 30 Ukyo Katayama Venturi-Lamborghini 1:24.421 +2.009 4 34 Roberto Moreno Andrea Moda-Judd 1:25.567 +3.155 5 35 Perry McCarthy Andrea Moda-Judd no time —
Qualifying report This was the chance for Williams to seal both titles and they were dominant, but it was Riccardo Patrese who took pole ahead of teammate Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Gerhard Berger, and Martin Brundle.
Qualifying classification Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:15.476 1:15.725 2 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:15.643 1:15.950 +0.167 3 1 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:16.467 1:16.267 +0.791 4 19 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:17.070 1:16.524 +1.048 5 2 Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:17.277 1:17.414 +1.801 6 20 Martin Brundle Benetton-Ford 1:18.843 1:18.148 +2.672 7 9 Michele Alboreto Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:20.538 1:18.604 +3.128 8 25 Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Renault 1:18.799 1:18.616 +3.140 9 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:19.511 1:18.665 +3.189 10 28 Ivan Capelli Ferrari 1:19.313 1:18.765 +3.289 11 26 Érik Comas Ligier-Renault 1:19.193 1:18.902 +3.426 12 15 Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford 1:19.555 1:19.123 +3.647 13 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 1:19.555 1:19.143 +3.667 14 10 Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:21.064 1:19.200 +3.724 15 29 Bertrand Gachot Venturi-Lamborghini 1:19.819 1:19.365 +3.889 16 11 Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Ford 1:19.587 1:20.390 +4.111 17 17 Paul Belmondo March-Ilmor 1:21.781 1:19.626 +4.150 18 14 Eric van de Poele Fondmetal-Ford 1:21.741 1:19.776 +4.300 19 4 Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Ilmor 1:20.003 1:19.867 +4.391 20 30 Ukyo Katayama Venturi-Lamborghini 1:20.209 1:19.990 +4.514 21 33 Maurício Gugelmin Jordan-Yamaha 1:20.481 1:20.023 +4.547 22 3 Olivier Grouillard Tyrrell-Ilmor 1:21.193 1:20.063 +4.587 23 16 Karl Wendlinger March-Ilmor 1:21.116 1:20.315 +4.839 24 32 Stefano Modena Jordan-Yamaha 1:20.819 1:20.707 +5.231 25 8 Damon Hill Brabham-Judd 1:22.369 1:20.781 +5.305 26 22 Pierluigi Martini Dallara-Ferrari 1:22.731 1:20.988 +5.512 27 24 Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Lamborghini 1:22.176 1:21.246 +5.770 28 21 JJ Lehto Dallara-Ferrari 1:22.364 1:21.288 +5.812 29 23 Alessandro Zanardi Minardi-Lamborghini1:21.756 No time +6.280 30 34 Roberto Moreno Andrea Moda-Judd1:22.286 1:22.870 +6.810 Sources:
Race Race report At the start, Gerhard Berger passed Michael Schumacher, and then Mansell lost momentum and Senna passed him with Berger following his teammate through. The order was Patrese, Senna, Berger, Mansell, Schumacher, and Brundle. There was a collision on the first lap between Érik Comas, Johnny Herbert, Thierry Boutsen, and Gabriele Tarquini who all retired on the first lap (meaning both Ligiers of Comas and Boutsen retired on the first lap), before Eric van de Poele spun into retirement at the first corner on lap 3 as both Fondmetals retired after only two laps. Mansell passed Berger on lap 8 and set off after Senna. As hard as he tried, the combination of the small circuit and Senna's skills in defending meant that he could not pass.
Another multi-car collision came on lap 14, which eliminated Bertrand Gachot, Aguri Suzuki, Olivier Grouillard, Karl Wendlinger, and Stefano Modena (forcing all five drivers to retire on the same lap). Alesi in the leading Ferrari behind the leading pack spun out with the rear wheels in the gravel trap by lap 15. After these accidents, which took place in three separate sections of the track, Modena's disabled Jordan blocking turn 13 was the most precariously positioned cars of all, the SC sign meaning the safety car was going to be deployed for the first time since the SC rule had been in place. Double yellow flags were waved around the track. Controversially, no further action was taken, and the safety car was never deployed. Murray Walker and James Hunt in the BBC booth phrased the situation "shambolic". On lap 31, Mansell made a mistake and went wide and rejoined behind Berger, just in the very moment when Walker was talking about the track not providing any overtaking opportunities. Two laps later, Mansell passed Berger to get back third. A pivotal movement came on lap 39 when Patrese spun off going into turn 3. He rejoined in seventh, outside the points, which meant that Mansell would be the world champion if results stayed the same. On lap 61, Mansell had to go to the pits with tyre troubles and rejoined in sixth, just ahead of Patrese. Mansell quickly passed Mika Häkkinen but before Patrese, who was right behind could take sixth, Patrese's engine blew. He was out and would get no points.
Mansell quickly caught and passed Brundle on lap 60 and four laps later, he was up to third when Schumacher's rear wing broke on his Benetton, spinning him out and retired on lap 64. Senna, a minute at the front, made a precautionary stop just as Häkkinen passed Brundle for fourth. Mansell passed Berger for second and now had a toehold on the championship. Soon afterwards, Häkkinen tried to pass Berger and spun into Brundle's path. Brundle was forced to spin to avoid a collision and both rejoined without losing places, with Häkkinen staying ahead. Senna won ahead of new world champion Mansell, Berger, Häkkinen, Brundle, and Ivan Capelli. Mansell became world champion with five races remaining.
Race classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 77 1:46:19.216 3 10 2 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 77 + 40.139 2 6 3 2 Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 77 + 50.782 5 4 4 11 Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Ford 77 + 54.313 16 3 5 20 Martin Brundle Benetton-Ford 77 + 57.498 6 2 6 28 Ivan Capelli Ferrari 76 + 1 lap 10 1 7 9 Michele Alboreto Footwork-Mugen-Honda 75 + 2 laps 7 8 4 Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Ilmor 75 + 2 laps 19 9 17 Paul Belmondo March-Ilmor 74 + 3 laps 17 10 33 Maurício Gugelmin Jordan-Yamaha 73 + 4 laps 21 11 8 Damon Hill Brabham-Judd 73 + 4 laps 25 19 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 63 Broken wing 4 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 55 Engine 1 22 Pierluigi Martini Dallara-Ferrari 40 Gearbox 26 30 Ukyo Katayama Venturi-Lamborghini 35 Engine 20 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 14 Spun off 9 29 Bertrand Gachot Venturi-Lamborghini 13 Collision 15 10 Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 13 Collision 14 3 Olivier Grouillard Tyrrell-Ilmor 13 Collision 22 16 Karl Wendlinger March-Ilmor 13 Collision 23 32 Stefano Modena Jordan-Yamaha 13 Collision 24 14 Eric van de Poele Fondmetal-Ford 2 Spun off 18 25 Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Renault 0 Collision 8 26 Érik Comas Ligier-Renault 0 Collision 11 15 Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford 0 Collision 12 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 0 Collision 13 24 Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Lamborghini 21 JJ Lehto Dallara-Ferrari 23 Alessandro Zanardi Minardi-Lamborghini 34 Roberto Moreno Andrea Moda-Judd 35 Perry McCarthy Andrea Moda-Judd
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Nigel Mansell 92 2 Riccardo Patrese 40 1 3 Ayrton Senna 34 1 4 Michael Schumacher 33 5 Gerhard Berger 24Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault* 132 1 2 McLaren-Honda* 58 1 3 Benetton-Ford 51 4 Ferrari 16 5 Lotus-Ford 10Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Bold text indicates the 1992 World Drivers' Champion. Competitors in bold and marked with an asterisk still had a mathematical chance of becoming World Champion.
References
Further reading