MUNICH: There is to be no grand prix at Germany’s Hockenheim circuit this year, officials confirmed on Thursday.
“We have always tried to find a solution,” Jorn Teske, manager at the Hockenheimring, told dpa. “But we always kept to our stipulation that we wouldn’t be stuck with all the costs. Ultimately we couldn’t agree.”
The famous course in south-western Germany was a candidate to be used as a replacement in the sport’s emergency calendar, which was introduced because of the pandemic.
But Formula One had indicated to Hockenheim that it wanted at least one grand prix in Europe to take place in front of fans. “That’s not possible with the restrictions in [the German federal state of] Baden-Wuerttemberg,” Teske said.
Officials at the Nuerburgring, Germany’s other traditional Formula One venue, confirmed that they have had talks with the sport’s powers-that-be over a possible comeback.
The last Formula One grand prix at the track in western Germany took place in 2013 and talks have been going on since then about a resumption.
The global uncertainty caused by the pandemic means that there are only 10 races in the Formula One calendar. Officials hope that they can push that to between 15 and 18 races in order to secure the full amount of television money.
The season began at the start of July after a nearly four-month delay. – dpa
