How Hungary's tortoise and hare grand prix was won
Car-management is common parlance for modern Formula 1 drivers, but 30 years ago today the Hungarian Grand Prix was won by a driver purposefully driving slowly to preserve worn tyres, as a snarling pack tripped over themselves
'They shall not pass'. The choice of headline on Autosport's report of the 1990 Hungarian Grand Prix was entirely apt, for Thierry Boutsen had led every single lap in his Williams-Renault and held off a train of faster cars at various stages headed by Gerhard Berger, Alessandro Nannini and Ayrton Senna.
In some ways, it was a typical Formula 1 race at the Hungaroring. At a track where passing was notoriously difficult, Boutsen had done half of the job by qualifying on pole for the first and only time in his F1 career. However, the other key element required to carry off the win - to deliberately drive slowly, conserving his equipment from lap one in order to avoid making a pitstop - would be anathema to most grand prix drivers.
Share Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.