Hire cars, even for race drivers more accustomed to Ferraris or Porsches, came down to a choice of Russian Ladas for the lucky ones and sputtering and smoke-belching East German Trabants for the rest.

"It was the first time that lots of us had ever been to the other side of the Iron Curtain," said Ann Bradshaw, then a press officer at Lotus with Brazilian Ayrton Senna and Briton Johnny Dumfries and now with BMW Sauber.

"We all had to have visas and it took a long time to get through customs unless you were Finnish, in which case you just walked through, which we all found very strange. Keke Rosberg loved it.

"There were 200,000 people -- coaches from around Eastern Europe and also a lot from Russia. They had some very strange clothes on...it was hot and there were a lot of people just wearing Speedos.

"The people on the gates were actually police and soldiers," she recalled. "You would come in with your car sticker and we would argue with them. When the guns came out we stopped arguing."

The first race, won by Nelson Piquet in a Williams, was also quite a thriller with the Brazilian chased by compatriot Senna all the way to the finish. The pair lapped everyone else.

"I think we'll all be very happy, indeed, to come back here again next year," Piquet said afterwards.

Since then the circuit has witnessed two championships being decided, Briton Nigel Mansell in 1992 and Michael Schumacher in 2001, and the occasional thrill such as Damon Hill leading in an Arrows in 1997.

These days the happiest driver at the Hungaroring is probably McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, last year's winner in a race that Finns have come to see as their home grand prix.

Robert Kubica, making his debut as Poland's first Formula One driver in place of Canadian Jacques Villeneuve at BMW Sauber, can also expect quite a following.

Afterwards, there is an August break before drivers re-gather further east for the Turkish Grand Prix on the 27th in Istanbul.

Twenty years ago, the next destination was at the Oesterreichring in neighbouring Austria the following weekend. Those who took a boat down the Danube to Vienna were shadowed by army helicopters and gun-toting guards along the riverbank.

"It was an adventure, a serious adventure," said Bradshaw.