Switzerland is a beautiful landlocked country nestled snugly between France, Germany, Austria, and Italy. Unlike those neighboring countries, though, Switzerland has a unique relationship with both motorsports and speed. You see, while all four of those neighboring countries host a number of motorsports events each year, Switzerland has had a ban on circuit racing since 1955.
That’s when the single worst crash in motorsports history took place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In a single catastrophic event, Mercedes driver Pierre Levegh and 84 spectators were killed and at least 120 more people were injured. In the wake of such unfathomable horror and loss, the neighboring nation of Switzerland took swift, decisive action and banned racing, seemingly forever. In 2015, the all-electric Formula E series managed to convince the national government to lift the ban for electric vehicles, leading to both a Formula E vehicle demonstration on the streets of Geneva, and a full-on Formula E GP in Zurich in 2018.
