Former Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug has sharply criticized the state of Formula One in Germany.
“It has regressed in Germany to a tragedy, for which every motorsport enthusiast can only be ashamed,” the 70-year-old said in a column for the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland on Tuesday.
Haug recalled the successes from the mid-1990s to 2016, with German world champions Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg “like on an assembly line”.
During that period there were also races at Hockenheim and Nürburgring, sometimes at both German tracks in one season, while in 2010 there were seven German drivers.
In 2023, there will again be no German F1 race, with Nico Hülkenberg the only regular German driver. The 35-year-old will celebrate his comeback after taking over from the axed Mick Schumacher at US team Haas.
Mick – son of seven-times champion Michael – will only be a reserve driver for Mercedes, who have lost their long dominance to Red Bull.
Four-times champion Vettel retired at the end of this season.
Audi will enter Formula One in 2026 but Haug believes more needs to be done to avoid “the car nation of Germany finally becoming prey to the car haters.”
