1992 Hungarian Grand Prix

1992 Hungarian Grand Prix
Race 11 of 16 in the 1992 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	16 August 1992
Official name	Marlboro Magyar Nagydíj [1]
Location	Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary
Course	Permanent race track
Course length	3.968 km (2.466 miles)
Distance	77 laps, 305.536 km (189.851 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault
Time	1:15.476
Fastest lap
Driver	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault
Time	1:18.308 on lap 63
Podium
First	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda
Second	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault
Third	Gerhard Berger	McLaren-Honda
Lap leaders

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 2002 World Championship six races early. The race also marked the final appearance of the Brabham team, which had been competing in Formula One since 1962 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. ^[2]

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. ^[3]

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. ^{[3] [4]} 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. ^[3]

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. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

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. ^[8]

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-Lamborghini	1:21.756	No time	+6.280
30	34	Roberto Moreno	Andrea Moda-Judd	1:22.286	1:22.870	+6.810
Sources: [9] [10] [11]

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. ^[12]

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. ^[12]

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, ^{[13] [14] [15]} Berger, Häkkinen, Brundle, and Ivan Capelli. ^[12] Mansell became world champion with five races remaining. ^[16]

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
Ret	19	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford	63	Broken wing	4
Ret	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	55	Engine	1
Ret	22	Pierluigi Martini	Dallara-Ferrari	40	Gearbox	26
Ret	30	Ukyo Katayama	Venturi-Lamborghini	35	Engine	20
Ret	27	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	14	Spun off	9
Ret	29	Bertrand Gachot	Venturi-Lamborghini	13	Collision	15
Ret	10	Aguri Suzuki	Footwork-Mugen-Honda	13	Collision	14
Ret	3	Olivier Grouillard	Tyrrell-Ilmor	13	Collision	22
Ret	16	Karl Wendlinger	March-Ilmor	13	Collision	23
Ret	32	Stefano Modena	Jordan-Yamaha	13	Collision	24
Ret	14	Eric van de Poele	Fondmetal-Ford	2	Spun off	18
Ret	25	Thierry Boutsen	Ligier-Renault	0	Collision	8
Ret	26	Érik Comas	Ligier-Renault	0	Collision	11
Ret	15	Gabriele Tarquini	Fondmetal-Ford	0	Collision	12
Ret	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus-Ford	0	Collision	13
DNQ	24	Gianni Morbidelli	Minardi-Lamborghini
DNQ	21	JJ Lehto	Dallara-Ferrari
DNQ	23	Alessandro Zanardi	Minardi-Lamborghini
DNQ	34	Roberto Moreno	Andrea Moda-Judd
DNPQ	35	Perry McCarthy	Andrea Moda-Judd
Source: [17]

Championship standings after the race

• Bold text indicates the World Champions.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Nigel Mansell 92 2 Riccardo Patrese 40 3 Ayrton Senna 34 4 Michael Schumacher 33 5 Gerhard Berger 24 Source: [18]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault 132 2 McLaren-Honda 58 3 Benetton-Ford 51 4 Ferrari 16 5 Lotus-Ford 10 Source: [18]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1992". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
2. "Ferrari's 500th GP". Autosport. 1 June 1992. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
3. Walker, Murray (1992). Murray Walker's 1992 Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 93–102. ISBN   0-905138-99-6.
4. McCarthy, Perry (2003). Flat Out, Flat Broke. Haynes. p. 197. ISBN   1-84425-018-0.
5. "Deciding the grid – A history of F1 qualifying formats". Formula 1. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
6. "When the early birds dominated the Formula One". UnracedF1.com. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
7. "The beginner's guide to the Formula 1 weekend | Formula 1®". Formula 1. 6 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
8. "1992 Hungarian Grand Prix". Motor Sport . Retrieved 8 June 2022.
9. "Marlboro Hungarian Grand Prix – Qualifying 1". Formula 1. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
10. "Marlboro Hungarian Grand Prix – Qualifying 2". Formula 1. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
11. "1992 Hungarian Grand Prix Classification Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
12. "1992 Hungarian Grand Prix". Turbos and Tantrums. 24 November 2017.
13. "30 memorable Hungarian Grand Prix moments". Formula 1. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
14. "Five Things To Know About Hungaroring 🇭🇺". Red Bull. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
15. "Revisited: Nigel Mansell becomes World Champion at the 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix". Williams Racing. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
16. "Race Facts – Hungarian Grand Prix". F1Destinations.com. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
17. "1992 Hungarian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
18. "Hungary 1992 – Championship". statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.

Further reading

• Henry, Alan (1992). Autocourse 1992–93. Hazleton Publishing. ISBN   0-905138-96-1.

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