Hockenheim see F1 ticket price problem in Germany: 'Risk is very high then'
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
For years, Germany was a leading motorsport country. Of course, the Germans were in the luxury position of producing two absolute icons of the sport with, Michael Schumacher and later Sebastian Vettel. With two top performers, it made sense that Germany also had their own Grand Prix. That has disappeared from the F1 calendar for some years now, and the management of the Hockenheim circuit is keen to see Formula 1 return. But not at any price.
Hockenheimring director Jorn Teske has not given up hope of F1 ever returning to his circuit. But he also sees that competition from other circuits is enormous. Organisers pay big money to bring in the F1 circus. Sums that for Hockenheim can only be recouped with sky-high entry fees.
How many fans would come to F1 at Hockenheim?
According to Teske, the interest in Formula 1 in Germany is there. Whether that means 70,000 or perhaps 100,000 spectators would show up sooner, he finds it difficult to estimate. "This number is relatively high," he told Auto, Motor und Sport. "I really believe we can have a full house here again. But I'm afraid that won't be possible if, like in other countries, you have to raise the admission prices substantially."
According to Teske, Germans are "incredibly price-sensitive". "I can only warn when you are talking about average prices of 300 euros per ticket. The risk is just very high then. We cannot do this alone," says the director. In other words, external backers need to come in to share the costs in order to keep ticket prices affordable.