With Sebastian Vettel (currently ill with Corona, will be replaced by his compatriot Nico Hülkenberg at the start) and Mick Schumacher, two regular German drivers will still be at the start if it is at the weekend (from Friday, March 18th, 2022, in the live center at sportschau.de) starts in Bahrain. By 2020, the German car manufacturer Mercedes had won the world championship seven times in a row. The pinnacle of motorsport still has a lot of fans in Michael Schumacher’s country – so why not a race as well?
Surprising comeback by Corona
In the Corona year 2020 there was a surprising comeback at the Nürburgring, previously Formula 1 had avoided the Eifel for seven years. The last Grand Prix to date was at the Hockenheimring in 2019. In 2022 there could only be another fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen for one of the two routes if the replacement location for the canceled Russia race is announced.
The sports show asked at both racetracks what prospects there were for motorsport fans in Germany. The answer can be summarized somewhat soberingly as follows: none, unless an investor can be found who will hedge the financial risk or if Formula 1 owner Liberty Media does not reduce the entry fee they are asking for. According to Sportschau information, Formula 1 wants between 18 and 20 million for a race weekend in Germany.
“Talks About Alternate Race”
Nürburgring spokesman Alexander Gerhard explains: “The good news is that we have just been re-certified by the FIA as a Great One circuit for three years, so we would be ready, we have a keen interest in Formula 1.”
Gerhard continues: “But we are a medium-sized company with 200 employees and cannot afford to jeopardize the entire year’s economic results with one race weekend. We are in talks, also together with the Hockheimring, about an annually alternating Grand Prix in Germany. But at the moment the ideas about hosting a race are too far apart.” And only the financial ideas.