Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that Hockenheim will host the German Grand Prix in 2015 rather than the Nurburgring.
The two circuits have alternated hosting the race since 2006, but Hockenheim’s inclusion ends that deal after the Nurburgring came under new ownership, and talking to Reuters, Mr Ecclestone insisted Hockenheim would host the race in 2015.
“It’s going to be at Hockenheim, we’re in the middle of doing something with them,” said Ecclestone. “It can’t be Nurburgring because there’s nobody there.”
“We’ve got a contract in place (with Hockenheim), we just have to amend the years of the contract. It was alternating with Nurburgring so we’ll just take that out.”
With the news the new owners of the Nurburgring have yet to speak to Ecclestone throws further doubt about the future participation in Formula 1 for the circuit. The circuit has long had financial troubles, and looked like closing down completely before the new owners came in. It last hosted a race back in 2013 and was won by Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull Racing ahead of Lotus duo Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.
The 2014 race at Hockenheim was won by Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS driver Nico Rosberg ahead of Williams Martini Racing’s Valtteri Bottas, with Lewis Hamilton third in the second Mercedes having started at the back of the field after a brake failure during qualifying.
