My husband has been an Formula 1 Grand Prix racing fan for many, many years. And shortly after we got together, we had the good fortune to go to Monaco and see the Grand Prix de Monaco, my first live race. Needless to say, I, too, became a fan after seeing those amazing cars running the Monte Carlo street course in that gorgeous principality.

That tiny red car on track is the great Michael Schumacher in his prime. Yep, we had the cheap seats!

Today was the running of the 2011 Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring outside of Budapest. This is the last race being run prior to a well-deserved break in August for the teams and drivers, after which they will resume the longest-ever racing season (19 races this year!) in September. We decided this event was worthy of taping and time-shifting the race to later in the day so that our devout F-1 posse could gather to eat and watch the race together. I wanted to serve a Hungarian menu, but due to the innate heaviness of the food (with the exception of some cold soups…which just aren’t racy), and the extreme heat happening here in Georgia right now, I decided to go native instead—but with some slightly Hungarian-inspired twists. We’re providing the main snackage and a side, and the rest is a pot-luck sort of affair. I’d be willing to bet that Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher have never had the pleasure of a pot luck gathering! Here’s how the event unfolded…

I made “Hungarian” Pimento Cheese sandwiches using my base recipe with the addition of Hungarian wax peppers and peppadews, topped with smoked paprika.

I also made a “Hungarian Grand Prix Tomato and Veggie Salad,” with heirloom tomatoes, summer squashes, cucumbers and fresh basil, inspired by our local favorite barbeque joint, Community Q BBQ.

Our pot luck table was rounded out by some pulled pork “Q” from the aforementioned place with slider buns to make sandwiches, and 3 barbeque sauces including one with my peach-orange marmalade stirred into it, and everyone thought it was yummy. The guests magnificently filled in with spinach dip and crackers, some spectacular almond-white chocolate bars, grapes, cashews, a homemade salsa verde and guacamole with chips. We stuffed ourselves and chatted for a while. Then, on to the race!

The full table

We take a moment to watch a portion of last week's BBC edition of Top Gear, featuring last year's World Champion F-1 driver Sebastian Vettel as the star in their reasonably priced car. He's the leader of the championship this year, too, BTW.

A pre-race interview with Britain's Jenson Button, who will run his 200th race today.

And they're off!

They pass....

.

It rains and they spin...

It's nearing the end of 70 laps, it's been an exciting, eventful and unexpected race, and who wins?

It's Jenson Button, across the line!

He's not winning the championship, but he's won his 200th race! Yay, Jenson! Well done, lad. And well done race fans, another fun and tasty gathering...see you in September!