Time was when the Hungaroring was a new and somewhat unloved entry on to the Formula One calendar.
But that was 31 years ago, when the Soviet Union still existed, when Hungary was a communist country under its influence and when the Berlin Wall was a division between two ideologies, not a graffiti-laden tourist attraction.
Now, with age has come history and memories, and the Hungarian Grand Prix is regarded with affection.
As Lewis Hamilton said after winning the British Grand Prix at Silverstone: "They don't build circuits like this anymore. They just have that character and history."
At just more than 4.3km, the track is relatively short for a modern grand prix circuit, and it winds around a dusty natural amphitheatre 20km or so outside buzzing, beautiful, historic Budapest.
The average speed is quite slow, but it's not a slow track. And that's not a contradiction. Yes, some of the corners are slow, but the reason the average speed is relatively low is because there are so many of them, and a fair proportion of them are medium-speed and very demanding.
Very demanding track
The fast, uphill, blind kink at turn four is one of them. Turn five might be 150 degrees or so, but seems to go on forever. And then, after the chicane, turns eight-nine-10-11 form a fantastic section of track, switching left-right, left-right at well over 160km/h.
In an ideal world, the main straight is probably a little short - overtaking is that bit too hard.
But the Hungaroring's reputation for dull races has been somewhat overcome, not least by the fantastic event in 2014.
In all, it's a little like a kart track writ large, and it rewards an attacking driving style. Which are two of the reasons Hamilton has offered over the years for his incredible run of success there.
He has the momentum
The Mercedes driver has won exactly half of his 10 races in Hungary. With that record, and after his domination of his home race last time out - and his team's apparent step forward in performance - he has to be a strong favourite to make it six out of 11 this weekend.
For Formula One's globetrotting fraternity, Hungaroring is a very familiar destination. The circuit has been home to the Hungarian Grand Prix every year since 1986. Only Monza and Monte Carlo have hosted more races in consecutive years.
No one can hold a torch to Hamilton in Hungary. The Briton has won the race more times than any other driver in history, triumphing on five occasions.
Michael Schumacher won it four times (1994, 1998, 2001 and 2004) while current championship leader Sebastian Vettel has won it once (2015).
A 58th career win for the Briton, and sixth at the circuit outside Budapest today would send the triple world champion off on vacation with at least a six-point advantage over Ferrari's Vettel.
Four-times champion Vettel has led since winning the Australian season-opener in March, jointly with Hamilton after China, but the German arrives in Hungary only a point clear after 10 of 20 races.
Hamilton, beaten by now-retired teammate Nico Rosberg to the 2016 title, but winner in Hungary, has not led the championship on his own since last September, but has the momentum after a crushing home victory at Silverstone...