Why is racing banned in Switzerland?

There is no Formula 1 Grand Prix in Switzerland and other series don’t race there too. But why is this? For the explanation we go back to 1934 when Formula 1 didn’t exist yet.

The start of the 1954 Swiss GP, the last race to be held on a Swiss Circuit (Image credits: r/formula1 on Reddit)

Swiss Grand Prixes:

In 1934 the first ever Gand Prix was held and the following 5 years it has been held too, but then was a break of 6 years until racing came back for 3 Grand Prixes racing before Formula 1 was founded. Since the first Formula 1 championship there have been 5 Grand Prixes held in Bremgarten BE and 2 other ones in Dijon, France.

Why did Formula 1 stop racing in Switzerland?

In 1955 there was a big crash at Le Mans. Three cars collided causing the death of more than 82 people and many more to be injured. In the Aftermath of the crash many governments across the globe banned racing. Including Switzerland. It was considered to dangerous to race and safety regulations where made to make it safe to race. Many countries lifted their ban, but Switzerland didn’t. In fact the ban has been active

The crash (Image credits: Wikipedia)

until May 2022. Some regulations and bans within the big ban have been lifted or relaxed before 2022. The electric car ban was relaxed in 2015 and E-Prixes where held in Switzerland in 2018 in Zurich and 2019 in Bern.

Swiss Teams and drivers

During the years there have been many swiss racing drivers and even swiss teams. There is Stake Kick Sauber F1 Team which has it’s home in Hinwil ZH, but also drivers in various series. Tina Hausmann in F1 Academy, Sébastien Büemi in Formula E and many others.

Written by: Yael Bächler (swiss)