Throwback Thursday: F1's first Hungarian GP by LAT Photographic

The Hungaroring in Budapest in its original format featured 16 turns in a 2.494-mile length, and while at the time it was labeled as a bland autodrome, perspectives change, don't they? The significance of arch-capitalist sport Formula 1 going behind the Iron Curtain was seen as a good thing in general, and Budapest is a beautiful city. Actually, until 1873 it was three cities – Buda and Obuda on the west bank of the River Danube and Pest on the east bank.

And over the years, there have been some very memorable Hungarian Grands Prix, often because (contrary to most people's pre-race expectations) it is possible to pass there – two circuit modifications have helped – and also because there have been some surprising performances from unexpected sources. Damon Hill almost winning for Arrows in 1997, Jenson Button actually winning for Honda in 2006.

There was nothing too surprising about the 1986 race, other than Nelson Piquet's extremely assertive and brilliant pass on Ayrton Senna for the lead. Still, it's nice to see the pictures from the LAT archive…

(RIGHT) Polesitter Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Renault) is already out of shot, as Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) leads Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG), Nigel Mansell (Williams), Keke Rosberg (McLaren), Patrick Tambay (Lola-Ford), Johnny Dumfries (Lotus), Stefan Johansson (Ferrari) and the rest on the opening lap.

(ABOVE) Piquet and engineer Frank Dernie found the perfect differential to deal with wheelspin on the Hungaroring's dusty surface. Mansell didn't know about it and was easy prey for Senna (BELOW) after the Lotus driver's pit stop.

McLaren suffered a horrible race. Prost (LEFT) suffered an electrical problem that cost him eight laps, and eventually he'd tangle and crash with Rene Arnoux. Teammate Rosberg had to stop with an irreparable rear suspension problem. Note designers John Barnard and Steve Nichols on the left of this picture.

Johnny Dumfries (ABOVE) was usually out of his depth in the 1300hp max-turbo era of Formula 1, but if we ignore the perspective provided by Lotus-Renault teammate Ayrton Senna, Johnny drove well in Hungary, qualifying eighth and finishing fifth to score his first championship points.

Bit of a rarity here. Having been forced to use its year-old A8 through the first half of the season, Arrows-BMW drivers Thierry Boutsen and Christian Danner were disappointed to discover that ageing mediocrity had been replaced by brand new mediocrity in the form of the A9. Boutsen raced it twice and gave up on it. Danner (BELOW) raced it just this once, in Hungary, but retired seven laps in with suspension trouble. The following race in Austria, "Christmas Dinner" too reverted back to the A8, and scored the first championship point of his F1 career with sixth place.

Derek Warwick was six races into his stint with Brabham, subbing for the late Elio de Angelis in the Brabham BT55-BMW. Thus far, he'd scored four top 10s in a less than promising car. However, here in Hungary he was thumped into retirement by Michele Alboreto (BELOW) in another unloved car, the Ferrari F186. By contrast, Albo's teammate Stefan Johansson did a fine job to finish fourth.