In an interview with ESPN F1 today, Hockenheim Circuit Adviser Katja Heim believes that Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel is to blame has been blamed for the poor turnout at his home grand prix in Germany last weekend following negative comments made earlier in the season about F1’s new V6 turbo era.
After three consecutive rounds in front of capacity crowds in Canada, Austria and Great Britain, only 52,000 people turned up to watch the German Grand Prix on Sunday. This is 30% decrease from the attendance who watched the last race at the Hockenheimring in 2012.
In her interview with ESPN F1 today, Circuit adviser Heim thinks Vettel (who incase you don’t remember memorably labelled the sound of the new V6 engines as “shit” in March) should bear some of the blame for the poor turnout due to the influence he has over German fans. Heim stated the following:-
‘It certainly didn’t really help that Sebastian in his frustration about the new Formula One and his car gave loads of interviews about how bad Formula One is now and that it’s not worth going there. As a four-time world champion from Germany, people believe him more than they would the sales people. So if he says there’s nothing any more for the fans, it’s not Formula One like it used to be, that was 100% quite damaging.’
From what Heim has stated in her interview today, I can understand why she feels that the comments made by Vettel could have helped with the low turnout at the German Grand Prix this weekend. From Vettel stating that the new V6 engines were “shit” and stating his thoughts on the direction that Formula One is taking currently will not have helped attract fans to the circuit to watch the sport.
As Heim states, if anyone can sell the sport and attract fans to come to the circuit, then Vettel would be the best sales person for it. With the levels of success that Vettel has enjoyed over the past four seasons (maybe not this season), this would certainly attract the fans to support and follow the sport, Vettel and the rest of the German drivers such as Sutil and Hulkenberg but also support the circuit as well.
However, I will argue that even though Vettel’s comments have helped a little bit with the low turnout at the Grand Prix last weekend, it isn’t the only reason. Firstly, I do believe that with circuits such as Silverstone, Austria and Canada who have certainly attracted the most fans so far this season have invested in embracing getting the fans involved in all aspects of the Grand Prix weekend.
For example at Silverstone, we saw the British fans truly embrace the Grand Prix as always and the Silverstone circuit organisers fully realising that without the fans, there wouldn’t be a race and over the stage of the weekend, allowed the fans to feel even more connected to the teams and the drivers by putting on events such as a pit walk. By Silverstone organising events such as this, this will only make the fans feel valued and cherished for supporting and buying a ticket but also give them an experience they will never forget and will want to come back year on year.
And I feel this is what Hockenheim need to embrace. By providing their fans and also travelling fans the opportunity to not only watch the best racing drivers in the world battling each other in the fastest motorsport in the world, but to connect with the fans and the sport by putting on unique events just like Silverstone did will only attract the fans to the circuit even more.
Also, there has been much speculation on social media from many pundits and fans that the ticket prices to watch the Grand Prix this year in Germany are very expensive and has put off a lot of fans coming to watch Formula One. With reports that a one day ticket at the Hockenheimring was £245 Euros each, it is no wonder why fans decided not to come to the race. With the current economic climate, it is hard for people not only to live but to also save up for the chance to see Formula One cars in action.
I feel that if the circuit organisers were to organise a three day deal which is value for money, we would have seen more fans turn up for the race in Germany last weekend and this is something for the organisers to look into for further Grand Prix that they may stage in the near future.
Further on in her interview, Heim also confessed Germany’s recent FIFA World Cup success played a part, poking fun at England’s dismal performance several weeks before the well-attended British Grand Prix. She added the following:-
‘For Formula One, it would maybe have been better if Germany had done an England and gone out in the first round. I really believe that.’
There is no question that Germany’s performance in the World Cup would have taken the spotlight off the Grand Prix, but what you have to remember is that their performance in the competition will have benefits to the country as a whole and it is a fantastic achievement for the German football team.
But back to Formula One, I completely disagree with what Heim has stated here, regardless of what happened with England in the World Cup, there is no denying that Silverstone truly understand the value of hosting the Grand Prix and the importance of having dedicated fans turning up year after year to have the best experience with the sport that they love.
I am not saying that the dedicated fans that turned up at the Hockenheimring last weekend did not have a memorable experience. If anything, the fans who turned up saw a really fantastic race and saw battles up and down the field with the best racing drivers in the world.
In conclusion, I feel that Vettel’s comments earlier this season has slightly affected for the “low” turnout. But you cannot just blame Vettel. I do strongly feel that the responsibility lies with the Hockenheim circuit organisers who I believe have not strongly embraced just what it means to host a Grand Prix.
There is no question that the Hockenheim circuit has provided fans with some cracking races over the past decade, but I feel that they need to look into how to expand and communicate further with their fans by putting on unique events such as Silverstone do in order to provide their fans with a memorable experience with the sport that they love that will keep them coming back every year.
And I believe that if Hockenheim and the circuit organisers fail to deliver this experience for their fans, at a reasonable price that provides value for money and also profit that they need, then the future of the circuit looks to be very much in doubt. And certainly, Ecclestone will be keeping an eye on things with the circuit and offering them suggestions for improvement.
There is no question that Germany needs Formula One and Formula One needs Germany, but they need to start looking into the real reasons why they had such a low turnout last weekend before it is too late and we lose Hockenheim off the circuit. And it would be a real shame if we lost a circuit that does provide close racing and puts on a show for the sport, the television audience and most importantly, the fans of Formula One itself.
