The German GP has been off the F1 calendar for some time now as the last race in the country took place in 2020. While the Formula One Management (FOM) owners Liberty Media are adding new races in venues like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Las Vegas, and Miami, the sport does not seem interested in returning to Germany. Former F1 honcho Bernie Ecclestone feels bad about the same and expects Mercedes to push for the German GP’s return.
Per FormulaPassion, Ecclestone spoke about the same with RTL, highlighting how Germany was an integral part of F1, given it is one of the European countries where motorsport is very popular. Moreover, with the rise of a German team like Mercedes and several drivers from the country like Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, and Nico Rosberg becoming world champions, Germany warrants a place on the F1 calendar.
Start: P20
Finish: P2
An incredible drive by Sebastian Vettel in front of his home fans
And that final push to the second step of the podium was unforgettable#F1 #GermanGP @ScuderiaFerrari pic.twitter.com/mzh2nkPfu1
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 28, 2019
Due to financial constraints for the race and track promoters at Hockenheim, the German GP last happened in 2019. Meanwhile, F1 raced at the Nurburgring for a one-off event in the pandemic-hit 2020 season, but that was it.
With Mercedes being the big German brand, Ecclestone felt they could have done something as they have an influential say in the sport’s workings. He said, “I would have expected Mercedes to do a bit more to ensure a German event would be back on the calendar, but I suspect it’s difficult for them to make decisions like that on their own.”
Ecclestone also wondered whether current F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali is pushing for bringing a legacy race like the German GP back on the calendar as much as he has strived to grow the sport in the Americas and the Middle East.
Why is F1 not prioritizing European races like the German GP?
The simple explanation of F1 and Liberty Media pushing for races in the US and the Middle East is money. Races in Miami, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia have been a big boost to FOM’s bottom line and its commercial value outweighs several traditional races in European countries like Belgium, Hungary, Italy, and many more.
While F1 is keen on preserving heritage events, it also wants to explore the opportunities of street tracks and newer circuits in Asia and the Americas. The Las Vegas street track is the perfect case in point as FOM themselves invested in the event to get the Las Vegas GP on the calendar.
It proved to be a huge success commercially as well as sportingly despite a lot of criticism against its track layout and the lopsided focus on the entertainment aspect of the event. F1 wants this spectacle to happen at more and more races and events like the German GP lack the financial muscle to make it happen.
