Switzerland

Bremgarten, Regazzoni and Melted Cheese

Switzerland hosted the Swiss Grand Prix in the championship's first years, produced two Grand Prix winners and Sauber, and cooks with alpine simplicity.

The Swiss Grand Prix was part of the World Championship from its first season. It ran at Circuit Bremgarten, near Bern, every year from 1950 to 1954, and those five races are the only championship rounds held on Swiss soil in our records. The name returned once more in 1982, but that Swiss Grand Prix took place at Dijon Prenois in France, a Swiss race with a French address, bringing the total to 6 races under the Swiss title.

Swiss drivers have made their mark without a home race to aim for. Clay Regazzoni won 5 Grands Prix between 1970 and 1979, and Jo Siffert won 2, in 1968 and 1971. Marc Surer made 82 starts, Sébastien Buemi 55, and Toulo de Graffenried raced in the championship's earliest seasons. Sauber Motorsport, founded in 1970 and placed in Switzerland in our records, has raced under the Sauber name in most seasons since 1993.

Swiss cooking reflects a country of several languages and many valleys, long kept apart from one another by the Alps. Its defining quality is simplicity: a few hearty ingredients, very often from the dairy, prepared with care. Bread comes with almost every meal, potatoes have been everywhere since the late eighteenth century, and the warm south grows grapes and chestnuts. The world knows Switzerland for its cheeses, cured meats, wine and chocolate, which is not a bad list to be known for.

Some dishes are everyday food, like rösti and muesli, while fondue and raclette are convivial meals for cold weather and special occasions. Every region adds its own specialties, from the German speaking cantons to Ticino in the south. A Swiss race weekend at home could hardly begin better than with a pan of rösti.

A taste of Switzerland

Circuits

Drivers

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