Hungary eyes long-term F1 future after ‘world-class’ Hungaroring upgrade
The Hungarian government is committed to maintaining, strengthening, and further developing the Formula 1 Grand Prix, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, the defence minister, said at the 40th Hungaroring event at Mogyoród on Sunday.
He said F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali had expressed his satisfaction with the quality and the speed of the renovation of Hungaroring, adding that Hungary was proud to have provided a high-standard event for spectators over the past 40 years.
The minister said 300,000 people are attending the weekend event and close to 100 million viewers have tuned in from around the world, adding that Formula 1 provided a good opportunity to showcase Hungary while also enhancing its economy.
Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said Hungary was justifiably proud of its renovation of the Hungaroring, which took place over a single year.
After talks with Domenicali, he said the whole world of F1, its management, rights-holders and teams were highly impressed by the revamped racetrack, adding that promoters of other races at Hungaroring today were looking carefully to implement lessons learnt from Hungary “at different locations around the world”. Not a single race was missed in Mogyoród despite the renovation, he added.
Notwithstanding the high-tech additions, the track retained its Hungarian character, he said.
Owing to the investments and political commitment, F1 leaders were thinking about the period after 2032, he said, adding there was a fair chance that Hungary would remain a part of the racing calendar.
Szijjártó said “technical issues must be clarified”, but the world-class developments had been made with the post-2032 period in mind, and it was understood at the meeting that “the most spectacular sports infrastructure development in the world this year is Hungaroring”.
He said the weekend race added 25-30 billion forints (EUR 63m-75m) to the economy. “Visitors, services bought here, and PR for the country all contribute to economic performance,” he said.
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