Renovated Hungaroring Ready for This Year’s F1 Grand Prix

The Hungaroring awaits visitors with spectacular developments and renovated buildings, returning to host the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix this August. The investment, planned for over a decade, has now become a reality: new infrastructure, modern facilities, and a unified concept characterize the track in Mogyród (near Budapest), which has been the venue for one of the biggest events in Hungarian sports for forty years.

At the press event, Ádám Schmidt, State Secretary for Sport, emphasized the importance of the race at a press conference presenting the renewed circuit on Thursday: “The Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix is important for the whole nation, both from a sporting and a national economic point of view.” He pointed out that

for 40 years now, this has been the most visited sporting event in Hungary, attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators every year, with around 80 percent of visitors coming from abroad.”

He also praised the economic impact of the race: “Every forint provided by the Hungarian government is recouped one and a half times over. Last year, for instance, the gross national product increased by 26 billion forints (64.6 million euros) thanks to Formula 1 alone.” According to the State Secretary, “in many ways, a new era is beginning in Hungarian car- and motor racing,” in which the Hungaroring will play a key role.

Zsolt Gyulay, President and CEO of Hungaroring Sport Zrt., said that the development did not exceed the originally planned budget of HUF 78 billion and that the race is self-sustaining. “In 13 of the past 15 years, the company has been profitable from ticket sales and does not need state support to maintain the Hungaroring and organize races,” he added.

International feedback has also been positive:

F1 officials visited Mogyoród two weeks ago, and they emphasized that the professionals had done a high-quality job during the renovation. Eight foreign promoters are expected to attend the race in August to see the renovation work done here,

he noted.

In addition, the Hungaroring will feature prominently in the upcoming Hollywood Formula 1 movie starring Brad Pitt:

It is hard to imagine a better image and advertisement for our country than being featured in the world’s most expensive film (…),”

said Gyulay.

The developments are not yet complete: the grandstands need to be standardized and the media parking lot needs to be modernized. Furthermore, the transformation of turn 14 and the run-off areas is essential for hosting the FIM Superbike World Championship, the CEO explained.

At the event, Zoltán Szujó, president of the Hungarian National Motorsport Association, drew attention to the Red Bull Showrun event to be held in Budapest on September 20-21, where David Coulthard will give a demonstration in an F1 Red Bull race car.

Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Máthé Zoltán