Meet the street circuit that hosted the first-ever Hungarian GP in 1936

Ask a Formula 1 fan about the first Hungarian Grand Prix, and you’ll likely hear that it took place in 1986. But for the true first-ever Hungarian GP, you’ll have to turn the clocks back 50 years, to 1936.

Back then, in pre-World War II Europe, Hungary hosted a Grand Prix at Népliget, a public park. Yes, that’s correct — the first Hungarian GP was a street race!

The 1936 Hungarian GP at Népliget

The first-ever Hungarian Grand Prix was a street circuit that took place in Népliget, which translates to “People’s Park.” The strangely shaped 3.1-mile track connected two bulbous exterior routes around the park with a narrow tail in the middle, and it hosted its first — and only — event on June 21.

At the time, the 1931 Grand Prix season featured just a handful of official events that were linked together for a final championship, but there were often more than 20 events worth of a Grand Prix title that may not count to a championship, but that were worth racing thanks to prize money. Those events were hosted everywhere from familiar tracks like the Nürburgring to unfamiliar circuits in Finland and Estonia.

The Hungarian Grand Prix, titled Magyar Nagydíj, took place around the mid-point of the 1936 season and was organized by KMAC (Királyi Magyar Automobil Club), or the Royal Hungarian Automobile Club, according to PestaBuda magazine.

Because the track was located in a park, the track was lined with trees and featured a 720-meter pit straight and four sharp bends.

The 250-km race would be contested between key players in the Grand Prix world like Alfa Romeo (Tazio Nuvolari, Mario Tadini, Antonio Brivio), Auto Union (Bernd Rosemeyer, Hans Stuck, Achille Varzi), and Mercedes-Benz (Louis Chiron, Rudolf Caracciola, Manfred von Brauchitsch). Private entries included local Hungarian racer László Hartmann and a woman named Eileen Ellison who unfortunately didn’t start.

Delve deeper into other historic events:

👉 The foolproof Canadian GP formula that new US F1 venues should copy

👉 13 weird Indy 500 traditions: Handcuffed milk deliveries, aerial bombs and more

Part of what made the Hungarian circuit special was the fact that its blend of long straights and tight corners meant even smaller, underpowered cars could compete against the might of the manufacturer onslaught.

With ample state backing from Nazi Germany, Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz were considered the favorites. Merc had dominated the 1935 Grand Prix season, but in 1936, Auto Union had emerged with star driver Bernd Rosemeyer to mount a serious challenge.

Heading into the 1936 Hungarian Grand Prix, the stage was set for a fantastic event — one where a German team was expected to win.

As expected, Rosemeyer launched into the lead at the start of the race, but he was soon usurped by the Mercedes of Caracciola. The two men traded the lead while, behind them, von Brauchitsch and Nuvolari waged a battle of their own.

Halfway through the race, one domino fell: von Brauchitsch spun, and Caracciola had retired. Rosemeyer still held the lead, but Nuvolari began closing the gap with his Alfa Romeo.

On lap 33 0f 50, Nuvolari did it — he made the pass for the lead.

Then, he continued building that gap, finishing 14 seconds ahead of Rosemeyer in second and having lapped the rest of the field.

It was a momentous win for the Italian Nuvolari. At 44 years of age, many fans were beginning to perceive him as being too old to race — and that seemed to be echoed in the previous Grand Prix when Nuvolari was roundly defeated by the young Rosemeyer. Many argued that Nuvolari had lost his edge, and that Rosemeyer should perhaps inherit the crown as the world’s best Grand Prix racer.

In Hungary, Nuvolari proved the doubters wrong.

Despite the fact that the racing was incredible, Népliget never again held a Grand Prix, in large part because it was a massive commercial failure.

You wouldn’t be able to tell just looking at the track; images of the race show packed stands and fans gathered in droves to catch a view. The problem, though, was the fact that many of those fans snuck in.

KMAC printed 98,000 tickets for the race, but only 30,000 of those tickets were actually legitimately sold. An additional 50,000 to 60,000 spectators found a way into the track without any tickets.

Perhaps the race organizers could have found a way to solve those issues — but international tensions escalated, and many Grands Prix began to fall off the annual calendar. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland; World War II had begun, and racing in Europe came to a halt soon after.

A Grand Prix wouldn’t be held in Hungary again until 1986, when Bernie Ecclestone negotiated F1’s first major race behind the Iron Curtain, but Népliget did host European Touring Car races between 1963 and 1970.

Read next: When F1 legend Juan Manuel Fangio was kidnapped at gunpoint in Cuba