1990 Hungarian Grand Prix

As at the previous event in Germany, the Ligier drivers were first and second in the Friday morning pre-qualifying session. The positions were reversed, however, with Nicola Larini outpacing team-mate Philippe Alliot. The other two pre-qualifiers were the AGS cars, driven by Yannick Dalmas in third, and Gabriele Tarquini in fourth, the pair nearly two seconds slower than the Ligiers. It was the first time since the French Grand Prix that both AGS cars had pre-qualified, and only the second time this season.[2]

Also for only the second time this season, Olivier Grouillard failed to pre-qualify in the Osella, as he was fifth fastest, less than two tenths of a second slower than Tarquini. There was a big improvement from Bertrand Gachot in the Coloni, now seeing the benefits of the Cosworth DFR engine in place of the Subaru, as he was sixth fastest, just 0.264 seconds behind Tarquini. The EuroBruns were seventh and eighth, Roberto Moreno a couple of seconds faster than Claudio Langes, and bottom of the time sheets as usual was Bruno Giacomelli in the Life, missing the cut by a very wide margin. On this occasion the L190 managed five laps before the engine expired.[2]

On the tight and twisty Hungaroring, the two Williams filled the front row with Thierry Boutsen 0.036 seconds ahead of Riccardo Patrese. This was to be the only pole position of Boutsen's career. Gerhard Berger was third ahead of McLaren teammate Ayrton Senna, while Senna's Drivers' Championship rival Alain Prost could only manage eighth, behind Ferrari teammate Nigel Mansell, Jean Alesi in the Tyrrell and Alessandro Nannini in the Benetton. The top ten was completed by Nelson Piquet in the second Benetton and Andrea de Cesaris in the Dallara.

At the start, Boutsen led away while Berger moved ahead of Patrese. Mansell and Alesi both passed Senna at the first corner, while de Cesaris shot past both Benettons and Prost. The top four started to pull away, while Alesi held up the cars behind him.

Nannini soon re-passed de Cesaris, but the Dallara driver kept ahead of Piquet and Prost before retiring on lap 23 with an engine failure. Senna passed Alesi on lap 21, only to suffer a puncture which dropped him to tenth. Nannini passed the Tyrrell driver shortly afterwards and quickly caught up to the top four, followed by Prost. On lap 36, Alesi collided with the Minardi of Pierluigi Martini, putting them both out; Prost retired at around the same time with a gearbox failure.

At the halfway point of the race, the top five remained Boutsen, Berger, Patrese, Mansell and Nannini, with Senna back up to sixth and closing fast. He moved ahead of teammate Berger when the Austrian pitted for new tyres. On lap 52 Mansell made an attempt to pass Patrese, only to fall behind Nannini and Senna. Patrese pitted a few laps later, falling to seventh behind Berger and Piquet.

On lap 64, Senna attempted to pass Nannini at the chicane. The two collided, putting the Benetton driver out. Then on lap 72, Berger attempted a similar move on Mansell, taking both drivers out. This left Boutsen and Senna nearly half a minute clear of Piquet. Senna tried to find a way past Boutsen, but the Belgian held him off, crossing the line 0.288 seconds ahead. Boutsen would later claim that if the race had continued for any longer his brakes would likely have failed.[3] Piquet finished four seconds ahead of Patrese, with Derek Warwick in the Lotus and Éric Bernard in the Larrousse-Lola completing the top six.

Senna increased his lead over Prost in the Drivers' Championship to ten points, 54 to 44, with Berger on 29 and Boutsen on 27. McLaren also increased their lead in the Constructors' Championship, with 83 points to Ferrari's 57, followed by Williams on 42 and Benetton on 35.