Switzerland has lifted the long-standing ban on ring racing.

      The Swiss authorities have lifted the ban on holding circuit races, which theoretically paves the way for competitions of any level, up to Formula 1. In the first half of the 1950s, five Swiss Grands Prix were held on the 7-kilometer circuit in Bremgarten, two of which were won by Juan Manuel Fangio, who also started from pole three times. In the other cases, the highest step of the podium was occupied by such famous drivers as Alberto Ascari, Piero Taruffi, and Giuseppe Farina. After that, a race by that name returned to the World Championship calendar only once – in 1982, but it took place in France at the Dijon circuit. By the way, it was won by Keke Rosberg (father of Nico Rosberg), who became the world champion that year, although it was his only victory of the season. Motorsport competitions were banned in the country at the highest state level – in 1958, such a decision was made by the Federal Council of Switzerland. This was related to one of the most tragic episodes in the history of world motorsport – the infamous accident that occurred at Le Mans on June 11, 1955. In the third hour of the 24-hour marathon, specifically at 18:20, a real disaster occurred due to a complex and extremely unfortunate combination of circumstances, leading to the deaths of 83 people, and at least 120 spectators were injured, burned, and suffered other injuries of varying severity. The ban imposed then lasted for 67 years and was only lifted yesterday. However, there were two exceptions – fans remember that in 2018, a Formula E race took place in Zurich, and in 2019, a stage of the electric series was held in Bern, but this required special permission from the same federal council. And lawmakers only gave the green light because these were races with electric cars. However, now changes have been made to the "Traffic Organization Act," which once again opens the "green light" for motorsport. It is quite possible that one of the arguments was that the factory Audi F1 was created based on the Swiss racing team Sauber, whose chassis are still developed and produced in Hinwil. In any case, the return of Formula 1 to Switzerland cannot be discussed yet for the simple reason that there are no suitable circuits there. As the German publication Auto Motor und Sport writes, it is also unlikely that a permanent racetrack can be built there, as the country has strict environmental regulations, and the local population will definitely oppose any large-scale project of this kind. However, the importance of the amendments adopted by the Federal Council should not be underestimated, as they create favorable conditions for the development of motorsport as a whole, at least for holding club and national level competitions. Moreover, Swiss companies traditionally produce various components for racing technology, and now they have the opportunity to test their products in their own country on real tracks.