Sebastian Vettel admits to being confused by Germany's lack of interest in F1 these days.

He might have finished a distant eighth, but Sergio Perez was lauded like a god throughout the weekend of his home Grand Prix.

His every move was cheered to the rafters, and whilst he never threatened the Red Bull or Williams duos, far less the Mercedes, the Mexican must have come away feeling as if he had won the race, such was overwhelming support he received.

The support wasn't lost on four-time champion Sebastian Vettel who has never experienced such passionate support in his own country even when he was following in the footsteps of countryman Michael Schumacher and dominating the sport.

Though Hockenheim sports a stadium section not entirely dissimilar to that in Mexico, never did the German crowd show anything like the passion. Indeed, due to a combination of factors, not least falling attendances in recent years, this year Germany slipped from the calendar.

"Being completely honest, I don't know what happened in Germany," Vettel told the German media. "It was great but in the last few years it was not full in Germany.

"I think there were more German flags here than in Germany," he added, referring to the Mexican event. "I don't know what is wrong."

"Maybe people are tired," he suggested. "Maybe tickets are too expensive. Maybe people are realistic about how much money they spend.

"It is a shame to see over the year less and less of a crowd," he admitted, "even though German drivers are fighting for victories. It is a bit of a shame, but it seems in other countries, people are a bit more passionate about racing."

LATEST NEWS

more news >

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

Click to go to the main galleries section

READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by karel, 09/11/2015 9:16

"Well I read a lot of high cost for a middle class men ( I'm myself I hope :) De prices of tickets in F1 and what you get for this ticket, is surely way over the hedge. And for that price what do you get : you're locked in in a segment and that's it. You're able to see the cars from a serious distance and of course the more you pay the closer you get. But having a pitwalk for the lucky few is ok, only the teams put a big plate in front of their cars, drivers you can see on Tv or when they make the news with behaviour wich challenges our fantasy due to the overpaid money they recieve to keep the show going. Once the race started, it's not exciting and then they're surprised that people don't attend the racing ? But for me F1 is long gone, with no hope for improvement, so let them race in countries with no history. Some new breed will arrise from the ashes of the old giving us excitement en payable racing with a close contact to drivers and teams.

"

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by mickl, 06/11/2015 17:58

"What really grinds me out the situation with the race promotors and FOM is that all advertising revenue at the event is pocketed by FOM/CVC. Effectively the track owners are paying to give Bernie a place to sell advertising.....where else in the real world does this happen?? The track should get at least a proportion of the advertising revenue as they have to maintain it all. Any ****wipe with a brain will know that you need to have revenue coming in to sustain a long term business model where you are essentially just paying out......well as long as there are dictators and murderers in this world Bernie will always get his cut."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by f1fan, 05/11/2015 12:49

"Bernie should lower his price and governments should support financially the F1 race locations in order that they in turn can bring the ticket prices to an affordable level for the fans to attend the races. I understand Bernie/CVC is there to make a profit, but they can make a lesser percentage of profit by lowering their fee.
"

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

4. Posted by Dam Buster, 05/11/2015 11:16

""Time to agree with Bernie when he says Europe is outdated. If the public can't support the races, so let's go to another countries!"

You may find Sir, that the public would like to support the races but are priced out of attending. I looked at going to Silverstone this year; £155 for a Sunday ticket. You want to go with a kid? That's another £77.50. Then we need to park a car; that's £50. Then say you drop £20 for a couple of drinks and some food. I'm not counting getting to and from the event - so in total I'm looking at £302.5.

That's to attend a motor race - on one day.

I don't blame Silverstone, I blame Bernie and CVC for the business model.

Make it reasonable to attend and I'll be back at Becketts before you can say "Redbull are in a bit of a pickle regarding engines.""

Rating: Positive (2) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

5. Posted by TheBucketOfTruth, 04/11/2015 20:28

"The location of this track plays a huge role as well as it being the first year. You can be sure the race was heavily promoted so they'd have a good showing first time out. I'd love to see how much tickets for the Mexican Grand Prix cost compared to a German Grand Prix (adjusted for cost of living of course). I'd venture to guess a place like Germany that aren't subsidized by a government or a billionaire have much higher ticket prices than somewhere like Mexico. This race reminded me of a crazier version of Monza. They kept saying "I can't remember the last time I saw a crowd with this much enthusiasm for a driver," but the Japanese seemed pretty keen on Kobayashi a few years back."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

6. Posted by mickl, 04/11/2015 20:00

"I would have to wait a few years to see if the Mexican supporters are as enthusiastic as they seem now. Due to it being the first race, I'd have to say novelty value plays a part in the size of the crowd attending."

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

7. Posted by Vinicius, 04/11/2015 17:51

"Time to agree with Bernie when he says Europe is outdated. If the public can't support the races, so let's go to another countries!"

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

Vettel puzzled by Germany's loss of interest in F1

LATEST NEWS

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

POST A COMMENT

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

Share this page