HOCKENHEIM, Germany -- The spectator who wandered around the course during the German Grand Prix and crossed the track in front of oncoming cars will be released from detention and allowed to return home.
The man, an unidentified 47-year-old Frenchman, told police he was protesting his dismissal for health reasons by Mercedes-Benz after 20 years of service.
"There are no reasons to keep him in investigative custody," Oskar Gattner, spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Mannheim, said Monday.
Gattner said the Frenchman might have to post bail before being allowed to go home.
"As long as we know his address in France, nothing speaks against it," Gattner said. "Besides, we don't think he will go on the run."
The track could face a heavy fine from the governing body of motor sports. The track has filed trespassing charges against the Frenchman.
The man dodged security and wandered along a wooded section of the Hockenheim circuit, crossing the track as Formula One cars approached at high speed.
It took a couple of minutes before stewards reached the man and took him away in a car, while the drivers were slowed by a safety car for two laps.
Mercedes-Benz provides engines for the McLaren Formula One cars. The man's action actually helped McLaren rival Ferrari and driver Rubens Barrichello win the race.
The same man was dragged away by a steward from the starting grid 15 seconds before the formation lap. Police later said the man had cut through a fence about 500 yards from the track.
"It is very regrettable that something like this could have happened here," said Gustav Schrank, chairman of the company that runs the circuit and mayor of Hockenheim.
"We will sit down together with the police and others involved to prevent something like that happening again," he said.
