Sebastian Vettel: F1 should protect German GP like Silverstone

Sebastian Vettel

Vettel: F1 should protect German GP like Silverstone

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Matthew Scott

Monday 29 July 2019 12:26

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Sebastian Vettel says the German Grand Prix deserves special status, which should see it, and other traditional races, kept on the Formula 1 calendar at the expense of high-paying new destinations.

Hockenheim has delivered stunning races in each of its last two F1 events, with Vettel's mistake 12 months ago proving to be the turning point in his title fight with Lewis Hamilton, before Sunday's epic in the rain which saw Max Verstappen win in front of a healthy Dutch contingent and the German driver delight the home fans with a drive from last to second place.

However, with Vietnam and Zandvoort added to the 2020 calendar, the Hockenheimring's bosses expect that F1 will not return for some time.

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Silverstone recently penned a new deal to stay on the calendar for five years, reportedly aided by a much lower hosting fee, and Vettel believes Germany should be afforded similar treatment.

"I hope that we don't lose this race," he said. "I think not only for me and Nico [Hulkenberg] as German drivers, I think for the German crowd that we saw is very passionate, a lot of people turning up.

"It was sold out despite the weather. I think we had a great race and it would be a shame to lose it.

"Obviously I'm not quite sure what's in the future, whether there's a chance to keep it but certainly when it comes to passion and effort that people put into this race it's pretty high up.

"I hope that people make some decisions [based] on common sense and not based on how much the wallet is opening.

"We have Grands Prix that we just mustn't lose such as Monza, such as the race at Silverstone in the UK.

"Germany and Spain have a long history of racing so it would be a shame to lose those and instead go to a place where they pay millions for the race to turn up but nobody is sitting in the grandstand.

"For us it's dull, as drivers so I think we rather enjoy here, close to the Netherlands (gesturing to Verstappen) with a lot of Dutch people coming… it's great to see.

"Obviously for the Germans and the Dutch in particular it will be difficult to go to… I don't know… overseas."