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| 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 16 in the1992 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 | Williams-Renault | ||
| Time | 1:15.476 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | |
| Time | 1:18.308 on lap 63 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Second | Williams-Renault | ||
| Third | McLaren-Honda | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1992 Hungarian Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held atHungaroring on 16 August 1992. It was the eleventh race of the1992 Formula One World Championship. The 77-lap race was won by Brazilian driverAyrton Senna, driving aMcLaren-Honda. BritonNigel Mansell finished second in hisWilliams-Renault to clinch the Drivers' Championship with five races still to run, with AustrianGerhard 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 the2002 French Grand Prix whenMichael Schumacher clinched the2002 World Championship six races early. The race also marked the final appearance of theBrabham team, which had been competing in Formula One since1962 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.
Ferrari celebrated its 500th start in a World Championship event as a team, even though Ferrari did not participate in the1950 French Grand Prix andPeter Whitehead's privateer entry in this race does not count towards the team's participation tally. Although its official 500th entry was at the1992 Belgian Grand Prix, Ferrari celebrated it in Hungary due to countingAlberto Ascari entry at the1952 Indy 500. Until 1960, the Indianapolis 500 was considered a round of the World Championship, albeit for reasons more symbolic than logical.[2]
After theGerman Grand Prix, theFondmetal team replacedAndrea Chiesa withBrabham driverEric 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 thusLarrousse driverBertrand Gachot was no longer required to pre-qualify.[3]
The session proved practically unnecessary as theAndrea Moda team again did not make a serious attempt to run their second car, which was driven byPerry McCarthy. His teammateRoberto 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, theFédération Internationale du Sport Automobile formally warned Andrea Moda to make a proper effort to run both cars at the next Grand Prix atSpa-Francorchamps, or face suspension from thefollowing event.[3]
The other four cars in the session thus all pre-qualified, with the Fondmetals taking the first two places asGabriele Tarquini outpaced van de Poele by nearly a second.Ukyo Katayama was another second further back in the remainingLarrousse, 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]
| 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 | — |
This was the chance for Williams to seal both titles and they were dominant, but it wasRiccardo Patrese who took pole ahead of teammateNigel Mansell,Ayrton Senna,Michael Schumacher,Gerhard Berger, andMartin Brundle.[8]
At the start,Gerhard Berger passedMichael 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 betweenÉrik Comas,Johnny Herbert,Thierry Boutsen, andGabriele Tarquini who all retired on the first lap (meaning both Ligiers of Comas and Boutsen retired on the first lap), beforeEric van de Poele spun into retirement at the first corner on lap 3 as bothFondmetals 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 eliminatedBertrand Gachot,Aguri Suzuki,Olivier Grouillard,Karl Wendlinger, andStefano 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 thesafety 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 andJames 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 passedMika 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, andIvan Capelli.[12] Mansell became world champion with five races remaining.[16]
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| Previous race: 1992 German Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1992 season | Next race: 1992 Belgian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1991 Hungarian Grand Prix | Hungarian Grand Prix | Next race: 1993 Hungarian Grand Prix |
