Ranking Lewis Hamilton’s five greatest Hungarian Grand Prix victories

With the Briton tipped by many to equal that record this weekend, at a circuit that should be suited to his SF-26, we take a look at five of Hamilton's greatest victories at the Hungarian GP so far.

While not exactly a thriller, this was Hamilton at the absolute peak of his powers, dominant in the Mercedes W11 from start to finish in 2020. On Pole Position at a greasy Hungaroring, the win was barely in doubt from the moment Hamilton took Turn 1.

After just three laps, Hamilton was eight seconds ahead of Racing Point’s Lance Stroll before pitting for mediums. The other front-runners stopped a lap later, but with the gap still at 7.8s, the race was in the complete control of the Briton.

Hamilton only extended his lead from there, so much so he could then stop for fresh tyres with three laps to go and grab an extra point for fastest lap of 1:16.627, still the race lap record at the Hungaroring today.

On his way to equaling his seven world championship wins that season, Hamilton’s 2020 win in Budapest also levelled with Michael Schumacher’s record of most race wins at a single circuit (8), before the Briton went on to grab three more victories at Silverstone in the following years to beat that record.

The first of Hamilton’s eight Hungaroring wins, but the weekend is most remembered for what happened in Qualifying the day before between the then rookie and McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso.

At the height of an intense title rivalry, Alonso remained stationary ahead of 22-year-old Hamilton as the McLaren pair double-stacked before their final Q3 runs. The result? Alonso took pole by just over a tenth, while Hamilton failed to get that final lap in.

However, a five-second penalty for Alonso had the young Brit on Pole the following day. And while the McLaren rookie led every lap of the race at the Hungaroring, he had eventual 2007 world champion Kimi Räikkönen for company all the way through - finishing just 0.7s ahead of the Ferrari Finn.

While that infamous weekend marked the beginning of the end for Alonso and McLaren’s relationship, Hamilton was just getting started, securing his third of four race wins of the 2007 season before eventually winning the Drivers’ title a year later.

This was yet another controlled win in Budapest for the Briton, beating Lotus’ Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel from Pole Position, but it was one of even greater importance - his first of 84 race wins with the Silver Arrows.

After taking Pole, Hamilton said it would take a “miracle” if he were to win the Grand Prix, given Mercedes’ struggles that season with tyre wear and high temperatures. But in a dominant display, Hamilton both managed his tyres and made impressive overtakes on the likes of Jenson Button and Mark Webber to romp home to victory by 11 seconds.

Becoming the first British driver to win a Grand Prix for Mercedes since Stirling Moss, it was a perfect vindication for Hamilton following a much-criticised move from McLaren that season - on his way to securing six Drivers’ and eight Constructors’ titles with the German marque.

Coming into the 2009 Hungarian GP as the reigning world champion, Hamilton’s best result had been P4 in Bahrain, but in truth, he was struggling to score points. McLaren had been paying the price for prioritising their 2008 campaign and fell behind the likes of Brawn GP - and their famous ‘double diffuser’ - under huge regulation changes that season.

Much like their 2023 campaign, however, a major upgrade package turned McLaren’s fortunes around - a new front wing, diffuser and engine cover at the previous race in Germany had recouped nearly a second of pace - and was put to good use by Hamilton, who started from P4 before beating Räikkönen to the win by 11.5s.

History had also been made by Hamilton in Budapest that year, with the Briton becoming the first driver in F1 to win in a KERS-equipped (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) car.

The now seven-time world champion went on to secure five more podiums that year - including another win in Singapore - and finished P5 in the Drivers’ standings behind the two Brawns and Red Bulls, while McLaren recovered to P3 in the Constructors’.

With Max Verstappen on pole for the first time in Hungary, the Dutchman had kept Hamilton at bay for most of the 2019 Grand Prix, despite a thrilling battle just over halfway through the 70-lap race, with the Briton going wide at Turn 4.

With a clear pace advantage, however, Mercedes rolled the dice, pitting Hamilton for a second time on Lap 48. With 22 laps remaining, and a 15-second gap to Verstappen, nothing was stopping Hamilton on that day. The Mercedes driver scythed through his deficit in a nail-biting pursuit of the 21-year-old Verstappen, whom he overtook for the win with just four laps to go.

In a fitting preview of what was to come between Hamilton and Verstappen in 2021, the pair’s pace was so strong in Budapest that the final podium finisher that weekend, Sebastian Vettel, was over a minute behind the Dutchman, and 71 seconds behind Hamilton.