No money, no drivers
Ralf Schumacher settles the score with German motorsport
Updated February 26, 2026 – 5:30 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Germany as a Formula 1 location? Ralf Schumacher sees black. The path to the top is hard to pay for talent. Schumacher mentions a sum in the millions.
Ralf Schumacher has made a devastating judgment about Germany as a Formula 1 location. “German motorsport has abolished itself. It started with nature conservation, so we were no longer allowed to get a go-kart track approved or continue to operate,” said the former Formula 1 driver at a press conference on the pay-TV channel Sky. That would be like abolishing the football pitches in Germany and still assuming that you have a club like FC Bayern Munich.
The brother of record world champion Michael Schumacher does not see a hopeful future for German drivers in Formula 1. “We will not have any Formula 1 drivers in the foreseeable future, unless he has enough money and manages to drive karts in Italy, like most people who really have money,” explained Schumacher further. Then the talent would have to assert itself directly against the best. “That’s only possible in Italian karting.”
With Nico Hülkenberg (Audi), there is currently only one regular German driver in the premier class of motorsport. The last time there was a Grand Prix in Germany was at the Nürburgring in 2020 – but only as a Corona replacement event. Schumacher himself drove in Formula 1 from 1997 to 2007, winning six Grand Prix. His brother Michael even became world champion seven times.
“You have to win today. Not winning is not enough because Formula 1 is only for the top drivers,” said Schumacher, also against the background of Tim Tramnitz’s withdrawal. The German was a talent, but is now retiring from the sport and moving to the GT series for BMW. The 21-year-old recently said that his further path from Formula 3, perhaps one day to Formula 1, would be “difficult” to finance given the multi-million dollar budget. Sky expert Schumacher put the costs for the difficult promotion route at around 15 million euros.
