F1 News
Vettel: German GP needs investors to remain
Sebastian Vettel believes that the German Grand prix needs ‘people from outside’ in order for it to remain on the Formula 1 calendar.
Fans of F1 in Germany may have witnessed their last race in their home country for a while as Vettel powered from the back of the grid to second place on the podium in front of his home crowd.
The race promoters have been unsuccessful in getting the financial backing to keep the race going, after Mercedes stepped in to help fund the race for this year but will unlikely do it again.
The German feels other investors need to help out as the Government doesn’t want to support it.
Vettel said (quoted by RaceFans): “I know the people here very well.
"They are putting a lot of effort and a lot of passion. They are very keen on staying and having the grand prix here. It’s a great show.
"I don’t think they make any money. I think they lost money last year.
“Thanks to Mercedes [this year’s title sponsor] they were able to have the grand prix again.
"So I don’t know what is the negotiation for next year and how much more money they would need or not, I don’t know.
"But the problem is obviously that Germany is not keen to pay anything so you need people from outside, investors.
"The government is not happy to support unlike in the Netherlands, unlike in other places that we go."
With the financial demands of F1 increasing it has put historical tracks such as Monza and Hockenheim in positions where they might not able to fund it anymore, something Vettel feels shouldn’t happen.
"I think it’s important that we don’t lose certain grands prix irrelevant of what they pay," he added.
"Formula 1 without Monza would be stupid. Losing big countries with a lot of racing history like Germany or, we’ve been to Spain through the years, I think is wrong.
“But I think it’s important to bring the sport where there’s passion for the sport so keep countries like Germany on the calendar or the UK or those iconic places.
“That would be my take on it.”
