Switzerland will be able to have a GP (in theory): after 71 years the veto linked to the tragedy of ’55 falls

There is no longer a ban on organizing a Swiss GP. Almost 71 years have passed since the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955 and the accident of that cursed June 11th which still sadly goes down in history today as the most serious misfortune ever for motor racing: it is no coincidence that it is remembered as “the Le Mans Disaster” when, after a collision on the track on the finishing straight of the La Sarthe circuit, the Mercedes-Benz Pierre Levegh’s 300 SLR ended up over the barriers causing the death of 84 people (including the driver) and the injury of another 120 spectators. An accident that also led to even more profound off-track consequences, including the withdrawal of the then dominant Mercedes from races of all kinds – it would only return in 1987, with Sauber in endurance racing – and the decision of some automotive federations to ban GPs from their territory. This is the case of Switzerland, a country in which, until Wednesday, an absolute ban on organizing races on permanent circuits remained in force: precisely until Wednesday, because the federal law enacted almost 71 years ago has just received a substantial modification from the Swiss Federal Council. The ban, in reality, had formally ended already in 2022, but up until now there had been a lack of detailed rules to amend the highway code and follow up on the “in principle” law approved a few years ago. Click here to add Formula Passion as your favorite source on Google Discover: you will find our content more easily! It is not a generalized green light. As Il Sole 24 Ore reports, the Council resolution which provides for the cancellation of the restrictions will be in force from next June 1st, but this does not mean that competitions on Swiss territory will be definitively liberalized. The central government, in fact, rather delegates to each individual Canton (the name used for each individual region of the federal state) the task of evaluating individual authorizations on a case-by-case basis, granting permits to build any permanent circuits and ensuring compliance with safety and environmental protection requirements. Switzerland’s candidacy for the organization of the next Formula 1 GP is therefore not imminent – also because the tracks must be designed and built, and for this alone it will take years – but there is no doubt that the repeal of the ancient rule that prohibited even the mere hypothesis of it is an epochal turning point. Switzerland, the last F1 GP in 1954 In the meantime, however, there have been some – small and limited in time – sports car events in Switzerland, especially in recent years: given that the ban was formally foreseen for circuit races, it was instead possible to organize races on city tracks. This is the case of the 2018 Zurich E-Prix and the 2019 Bern E-Prix, two smaller events but still of a certain importance – Formula E is still an FIA championship that competes all over the world (at the time, however, it did not yet boast the “world championship” label) – considering the historic ban on organizing motorsport events on the territory of the Confederation. The last Formula 1 GP in Switzerland dates back to 1954, on the Bremgarten circuit and won by the Ferrari of the Argentine José Froilan Gonzalez. Who knows, maybe in a few years this taboo will also fall…

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-05-14 00:00:53