After a couple of ‘rural’ races getting back into the city is a shock, but a nice one. The race engineers talk about Budapest being a bit like Monaco; we think they mean the circuit, but they could just as well be discussing the nightlife. Budapest is magnificently hospitable.

One of the things it does best is the ‘ruin bar’ – basically a derelict building converted into an ad hoc nightspot. Behind a grimy façade, these places open up into open-air courtyards, with decorating courtesy of the local art schools. They’re all covered in huge, crazy murals and lava lamps, and the dancing goes on until dawn. While the teams are wilting with the heat during the day, the temperature in the evenings is positive balmy, and there are worse things to do than sit out under the stars with a cold drink, listening to tall tales.

Speaking of tall tales, the British tabloid press have got it wrong this week. The most dangerous man in Budapest isn’t Toro Rosso new boy Jaime Alguersuari. Anyone who’s been coming here regularly over the years knows the most dangerous man in Budapest is the fella who operates the rollercoaster in the amusement park behind Heroes Square. The whole area is a World Heritage Site, but it’s the ‘coaster that really brings across the sense of the ancient. Opening in 1922 and built in the cartoon mine shaft style, the wooden ride is one of only ten of its type to survive the ravages of time and, presumably, woodworm.

 

Unlike the modern equivalent it’s controlled by a brake man who sits in the back car, usually smoking a roll-up. When we last visited, the gentleman in question was so venerable, we mistook him for an original feature of the attraction. Nobody rides without the thought of his imminent mortality crossing their mind, which certainly adds that frisson of danger the thrill-seekers crave. Not quite as terrifying as the taxi drivers in Istanbul, but you have to go with what you’ve got…

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