"It can't be Nurburgring because there's nobody there," says Bernie
Thursday 15 January 2015 14:06, UK
Hockenheim will host this year’s German GP, Bernie Ecclestone has revealed, and not the Nurburgring as previously expected.
Under the terms of the race-share agreement Germany’s two F1 venues entered into in 2007, the Nurburgring had been slated to host this year’s July 19 event after Hockenheim staged last season's race.
However, with the race venue already having been listed as 'to be confirmed' on the 2015 calendar released by the FIA, it emerged in recent days that the Nurburgring had actually yet to sign a deal to fulfil its obligations.
Ecclestone has now confirmed that the race will remain at Hockenheim for a second straight year.
"It's going to be at Hockenheim, we're in the middle of doing something with them. It can't be Nurburgring because there's nobody there," the F1 supremo told Reuters.
"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.”
The Nurburgring’s biennial place on the calendar has been at the subject of speculation ever since 2012 when the historic venue ran into severe financial difficulties, and near bankruptcy, after the track's owners became embroiled in a dispute with the venue leaseholders.
The arrival of new Russian owners last October had appeared to increase the likelihood of the venue, which is situated in the heart of the Eifel mountains, returning in 2015 but it appears the terms of the F1 deal have proved prohibitive.
Although alternating on the calendar over the past eight years, the Nurburgring and Hockenheim have been regular features on the calendar for decades and both circuits staged annual races between 1995 and 2006 at the height of Michael Schumacher’s era of dominance.
Hockenheim, however, has not been without problems itself and concerns were expressed at last year’s low attendance figures despite the dominance of German carmarker Mercedes and the recent title-winning successes of Sebastian Vettel.
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