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Kai Ebel will not ambush the drivers in the pit lane with colorful clothes and a microphone on Sunday.
The TV journalist, known for his extravagant fashion taste, will instead sit in the RTL studio in Cologne because of the corona pandemic.
So the forced farewell hurts twice as much as the end of a very special TV era.
“I drive to the studio, watch the race with my colleagues and hope to get a nice finish rate,” says Ebel.
After 30 years it is over, the broadcast of the race in Abu Dhabi is the last for the private broadcaster.
That is bitter for RTL and its motorsport employees.
And that's bitter for most of the Formula 1 fans who will have to pay in the future.
The symbol for the RTL broadcasts was Ebel.
The trademark that only initially wore a dark suit.
“Emotionalisation and eventisation previously unknown in sports broadcasts” is what the broadcaster calls its concept.
The frenzied reporter, who has been in the pit lane since 1993, with his often flashy outfit stood for that like no other.
Moderator Florian König or commentators Heiko Waßer and Christian Danner were much more cautious.
An average of 10.44 million TV viewers
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The beginnings of the then “fringe sport”, as RTL put it, were modest.
In the first year of reliable ratings measurement, the 16 race broadcasts in 1992 had an average of 1.76 million viewers and a market share of 20.6.
But then came Michael Schumacher, a local hero, without whom no successful TV format can do.
With “Schumi” and its seven World Cup titles, RTL also roared into first place with increasing frequency.
The highest value, which is hard to believe today, was in 2001. An average of 10.44 million people watched each of the 17 races and provided a market share of 55.4 percent.
Today it looks different: the average value will settle at around 4 million viewers in 2020 after the last RTL race on Sunday.
Kai Ebel was the trademark of Formula 1 reporting
Source: TVNOW / Lukas Gorys / Photo: TVNOW
Nevertheless, RTL can rightly claim "a unique success story".
The company's statisticians counted 533 race broadcasts and added 3.14 billion viewers in 30 years.
Only four races freely accessible
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The commercial breaks and the colorful pit lane reporter may not have pleased every motorsport enthusiast unreservedly, but the spectators were spoiled in that they were able to watch the training units and races for three decades at no additional cost.
That will be over from next year.
Almost all Formula 1 races will then only be shown for an additional fee.
The pay TV broadcaster Sky only has to make four races freely accessible.
Sky had outbid RTL after several unsuccessful attempts at rights poker in the spring.
"If there are competitors in the game who are ready to bid twice as much, you inevitably have to deal with an exit scenario," said Manfred Loppe, who left RTL at the end of the year, without giving any numbers.
Ebel can even imagine switching to Sky.
“You should never exclude everything,” he said: “Sometimes it changes so quickly.” Despite the end of an era, the 56-year-old applies: “I'm not going to retire.