After making a reappearance for this year’s calendar, it has been confirmed that the 2017 Formula One season will not feature the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring, after Bernie Ecclestone failed to negotiate it’s return.
The executive director of the race, Georg Seiler told AutoBild that “there was no offer that would have excluded all economic risks. But just that was always our prerequisite. A pity, but not a surprise considering that the date was subject to confirmation and no deal between F1 and the Hockenheimring was put in place.”
The news, however, came as little surprise to many fans, as it has been made clear by Ecclestone in the past that the Hockenheim event was in trouble, especially as it didn’t appear at all on the 2015 calendar.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, Ecclestone commented that he didn’t “know how we could ever save that race. It’s commercial.”
He also picked up on the bizarre point that despite the evident pedigree Germany has when it comes to Drivers and Constructors World Championships, there is little interest from the German fans in the sport.
“What is incredible is that we’ve had all the German World Champions, they [Mercedes] have won the constructors’ championship, and will win the drivers’ championship for sure, and there’s no interest in Germany.”
The chief executive of the Formula One Group also seemed unsure as to what the race directors were looking for, but is certain that it is no longer economically feasible to continue running the race.
“They’re saying, or I think they’re saying, ‘We’d be prepared to continue with the same terms and conditions that we’ve had for the last two or three years,’ which are no good for us.”
“We tried to keep them alive, but they’ve run out of tablets.”
