Six title winners and one-win wonders to gain maiden glory at the Hungarian GP

The Hungaroring, home of the Hungarian Grand Prix, renowned for being ‘Monaco without the walls’, it has earned itself a unique piece of Formula 1 history during its time in the sport.

Much like the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Canada, Hungary has crowned several first-time race winners in Formula 1 – six of them, to be precise.

The six first-time F1 race winners at the Hungarian Grand Prix

1993 – Damon Hill (Williams)

Following his promotion to Williams, Damon Hill had already been close to his maiden Formula 1 victory on multiple occasions in the 1993 season.

He was foiled by retirements from potential race-winning positions in both Spain and Great Britain, before a puncture undid his race in Germany.

Arriving at the Hungaroring, Hill qualified second behind team-mate, Alain Prost, with the duo well clear of Michael Schumacher’s best effort in third.

However, Prost stalled on the formation lap, leaving Hill on the effective pole position as the lights went out.

Ayrton Senna retired from the race after placing the Briton under early pressure, as did Schumacher after a spin, which left Hill able to take his maiden win by more than a minute.

In doing so, he became the first second-generation Formula 1 driver to take a race victory, following in the footsteps of his multiple World Champion father, Graham. Hill went on to become World Champion himself in 1996, and retired with 22 grand prix victories to his name.

2003 – Fernando Alonso (Renault)

Fernando Alonso had already broken the record for being Formula 1’s youngest polesitter and podium finisher when the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix came around, but one big box left to tick was a race victory.

The Spaniard, then at Renault, started from pole ahead of Ralf Schumacher’s Williams and the Jaguar of Mark Webber, but Alonso’s reactions from the start gave him a crucial lead heading into Turn 1.

While Kimi Raikkonen recovered from a P7 starting slot to pressure the 22-year-old, Alonso had the measure of everyone as he became Formula 1’s youngest ever race winner, lapping reigning World Champion, Michael Schumacher, in the process.

“The victory, for me, is a dream come true,” Alonso said afterwards. “I’m 22 years old and I have my first victory in the pocket, so I hope for a long career here in Formula 1 with more victories.”

Sebastian Vettel took Alonso’s place as the youngest-ever race winner at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, before Max Verstappen took on the mantle at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, at 18 years and 228 days old.

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2006 – Jenson Button (Honda)

After his promising debut years in Formula 1, pressure from the British media was growing on Jenson Button to chalk up his first victory in the sport.

Having taken a 10-place grid penalty after a promising qualifying session, Button start 14th in changeable conditions – in which he became synonymous for thriving under.

Up three places at the end of the first lap and into the top eight by the third, by staying out when others pitted, Button worked his way up into the top four in the early stages.

When runaway race leader Kimi Raikkonen retired following a big collision with lapped traffic, the subsequent Safety Car period allowed Button up to second on the road.

Behind Fernando Alonso with 24 laps to go, Button stopped to refuel but, crucially, not change tyres as his rubber had worn so his intermediate tyres were effectively slick by that stage.

When Alonso pitted several laps later, it was Button who gained the lead as the Spaniard struggled on slicks prior to crashing into the barriers at Turn 2.

Button took a long-awaited first victory in the sport, at the 113th time of asking, in Hungary. He admitted afterwards that he “couldn’t have done it in a better way” after rising from such a lowly grid slot.

2008 – Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren)

This maiden victory in Hungary would prove to be the first and only win for Heikki Kovalainen in his Formula 1 career, who admitted he felt “a bit sorry” for his rivals afterwards.

Starting from second behind Lewis Hamilton, Kovalainen continued in the podium places as his McLaren team-mate suffered a puncture partway through the race, with 2008 title rival, Felipe Massa, out in the lead.

While the Ferrari driver held a comfortable advantage in the closing stages, Massa suffered a mechanical failure which put him out of the race with only three laps to go.

Kovalainen duly inherited the lead and held on for his maiden victory in Formula 1.

He said after the chequered flag: “I knew Massa and Lewis were both very fast at the beginning of the race, but halfway through the race I felt it was starting to work for me a little bit better.

“At the end, I just tried to put pressure on Massa and hoped something would happen and obviously it looked like he had a mechanical failure, so it all worked fine for me today and I am very, very happy about it.

“All the hard work that the whole team has put in the last few months, through difficult times, we just kept pushing and it is very respectable and I am very, very glad to score my first victory.”

2021 – Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

Arguably the biggest ‘underdog’ victory on this list, given the Alpine was largely a midfield runner in the 2021 season, Esteban Ocon broke his F1 duck in dramatic fashion.

Another race to feature changeable weather, the 2021 edition of the Hungarian Grand Prix featured a huge first-corner accident when Valtteri Bottas collided with Lando Norris, who in turn made contact with a World Championship contender in Max Verstappen. Bottas then made further contact with the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

A red flag was required as repairs were made, but as the track dried, everyone bar Lewis Hamilton dived into the pit lane for slicks before the restart, leaving the unusual sight of Hamilton on his own on the grid.

Because of how the rest of the 15 remaining drivers lined up in the pit lane, the Williams of George Russell was followed by Esteban Ocon’s Alpine to complete an unusual set of podium placings.

Hamilton needed to pit the following lap, and when Russell was forced to move aside for several cars after overtaking in the pit lane, it was Ocon who led. But he had a four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel behind him, with Ocon defending fiercely from the Aston Martin driver.

Hamilton was on a charge back through the field, and while it’s perhaps fair to say the two Alpine team-mates did not get on all the time, it was Fernando Alonso who was able to keep a much faster Hamilton behind for lap after lap, doing enough to stymie his progress and enable Ocon to hold the lead, despite the efforts of Vettel to force a mistake,

Come the chequered flag, Ocon was jubilant and credited Alonso’s defence for his role in the victory. It remains the Frenchman’s only win to date in Formula 1 as of 2025, with the Frenchman looking to add to his tally in future.

2024 – Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

In his second season in Formula 1, Oscar Piastri had been threatening a potential race win as his and McLaren’s competitiveness improved.

With two impressive podiums earlier in the year in Monaco and Austria, Piastri had the chance to go one step further at the Hungaroring.

Starting behind McLaren team-mate, Lando Norris, on the grid, Piastri out-braked his team-mate at the opening corner to take the lead of the race.

The Australian was able to get out of DRS range of the chasing Max Verstappen as well as Norris. It turned into a frustrating day for the reigning World Champion, who was told to allow Norris past after allegedly overtaking off-track on the first lap before a Turn 1 collision with Lewis Hamilton late in the race.

Piastri’s win almost didn’t happen. At his final stop, Norris was called in first, undercutting his team-mate to take the lead; a decision made to safeguard second on the road from Hamilton.

It was a move that went against standard protocol of the lead driver being allowed to pit first and was followed by instructions and pleas came from the pit wall for Norris to “re-establish the order,” with the Briton initially replying: “Should have boxed him first then, no?”

Race engineer Will Joseph returned to the radio later on, saying: “The way to win a championship is not by yourself, it’s with the team. You’re going to need Oscar, and you’re going to need the team.”

Three laps from the end, Norris relented and allowed Piastri back past, with the Australian going on to take his first victory in Formula 1.

“Thanks for the co-ordination,” Piastri said on team radio afterwards. “Maximum points, really good weekend.”

Rather than a flash in the pan, however, Piastri won again later in the season in Azerbaijan, before taking another six wins in the first half of the 2025 season.

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