Alice West booked a mini break to Budapest with her husband Ed to celebrate their first wedding anniversary in 2011. And being die-hard F1 fans, it would’ve been rude not to take in the Hungarian Grand Prix while they were there. Happily for these McLaren suppporters it was Jenson Button’s 200th race that weekend… and he won!
Was it easy to get to the track from Budapest?
Very! Your F1 ticket gets you free access to the shuttle buses that depart central Budapest through the day, and take you back into the city until the early evening. The journey took about forty minutes as Hungaroring is only twenty miles or so from the city.
We did find that buses coming back were pretty crowded so we took the train back from the circuit on quali day. Train and metro travel is cheap but make sure you get your ticket stamped on entry through the turnstiles or you’ll face a hefty fine when you come out of the station… like we did!
Where did you watch the action from trackside?
- We got Silver 8 tickets which were the cheapest option but by no means an inferior spot – it’s situated between turns six and seven – a wicked chicane with a big TV screen right opposite. We witnessed some great spins and overtakes here. Silver 8 is a bit of a walk from where the buses drop you, so bring comfy shoes and expect for it to take a good twenty minutes, some of it uphill. What’s great about this, though, is that the atmosphere outside the track is buzzing and you can stop for drinks and food on the way. Merchandise stalls are also set up outside so you can grab all your gear before you head in.
What else is there to do at Hungaroring?
- We didn’t come up for the Friday practice sessions as we wanted to take in the city sights, but the organisers do open the track up straight after the race finishes on the Sunday, so we were able to walk all the way round to the grid at a leisurely pace, and we even managed to bump into Jake Humphrey, Eddie Jordan and Martin Brundle interviewing British fans on the way.
As I said before, the atmosphere outside the track is great and you can definitely spend some time here having a drink and a bite to eat before the racing begins.
