Sebastian Vettel says the loss and potential loss of the German and Belgian Grand Prix’s from Formula 1 is a “shame”.
The four-time world champion last raced in his homeland in 2020, when the Nurburgring made a one-off return as part of the heavily revised Covid calendar.
An actual German GP though has not taken place since back-to-back races at Hockenheim in 2018/19, with Mercedes backing the latter as they celebrated 125 years in motorsport.
Since then, talk of a return to Germany has been largely mute, although F1 chief Stefano Domenicali did voice his disappointment at its absence earlier this year.
But Vettel, who is one of just two full-time German drivers along with Mick Schumacher, doesn’t expect to race at home in F1 again.
“I don’t know if Germany will make it [back onto the calendar] in time for me,” the 2013 German GP winner said. “Obviously I had the privilege to race in Germany for many years.
“I think in the end, if you look at the places we are going, Germany is not prepared to pay that sort of money to have the Grand Prix. Simple as that.
“It would be great if Germany was back on the calendar, but I doubt it.”
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Another race Vettel feels is being priced out of F1 is the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
“Other regions, other countries in Europe are struggling,” the 34-year-old claimed. “I think Spa is a very good example.
“It’s a shame what we saw last year, with the rain cancelling the race and the people not getting a refund on their tickets.
“But to blame Spa I think would be wrong because they are already struggling to make up the money they lose in the first place. So I don’t know, I’m not the developer of the sport and I’m not setting the business plan and the targets.
“But clearly, you can see the places we are going and the new venues we are going, it’s great to explore but it’s also money-driven for the sport, I guess, to develop the way they want to develop.
“But yeah, it’s a shame losing out in Germany. It would be a shame losing out on Spa.
“Certainly some races you would think have a guarantee, such as Silverstone, Monza, but I don’t know. We’ll see what happens in the next years.”
In recent weeks, there have been growing rumours the Belgian GP will be dropped after this year to make way for a return to Kyalami in South Africa in 2023.