No German GP in 2015

[Hornet]

I believe next year is Hockenheim's turn to host the German GP again, so there shouldn't be any issue. They are not in any trouble, they just didn't have enough time to prepare for a F1 GP this year on short notice after Nurburgring's issue.

Meanwhile we'll have to keep our fingers crossed that Nurburgring will be able to solve it's financial issues and sign a new contract for 2017

[fratelliferrari]

I believe next year is Hockenheim's turn to host the German GP again, so there shouldn't be any issue. They are not in any trouble, they just didn't have enough time to prepare for a F1 GP this year on short notice after Nurburgring's issue.

Meanwhile we'll have to keep our fingers crossed that Nurburgring will be able to solve it's financial issues and sign a new contract for 2017

Yes I hope so too! I have been to both German Grand Prixs and I like the Nurburgring better than Hockenheim! I think Nurburgring has a better lay-out and the atmosphere around the circuit is also very nice

[IulianFerrari]

Something has to be done, we are losing tradition and making way for the oil rich countries and "tropical" destinations.

[Nero Horse]

Yes I hope so too! I have been to both German Grand Prixs and I like the Nurburgring better than Hockenheim! I think Nurburgring has a better lay-out and the atmosphere around the circuit is also very nice

The modern Nurburgring is much better than the modern Hockenheim, no doubt. But I would take either of them over some racetrack in the middle of some desert anyday.

[fratelliferrari]

The modern Nurburgring is much better than the modern Hockenheim, no doubt. But I would take either of them over some racetrack in the middle of some desert anyday.

You are right there! I was in Imola last summer...For me still my favourite race track ever and really painful to see we probably will never have an F1 race there

[abbottcostello]

Very tough to lose these old race venues, I used to love going to the US GP at Watkins Glen, so hope Hornet is right about Hockenheim & Nurburgring. Change is good, but it never can replace tradition!

[wisepie]

Apart from the SF15 looking more promising, this season hasn't got off to a very good start from the sport's point of view with the loss of Caterham, Manor Marussia failing to run, Alonso and Bottas being sidelined through injury and now circuits running out of the funds to hold a race. There will now be a three week gap after Silverstone until Hungary and then another month before Spa, we have teams which are on the go from March until November, they may enjoy a bit more of a summer break but it's all turning into a shadow of what F1 used to be, proper racing on proper circuits with proper fans paying to watch. I despair. Bernie, are you listening?

[abbottcostello]

Apparently Mercedes were willing to help with costs, but only at Hockenheim:

On Sunday, British newspaper The Observer said Mercedes was willing not only to pay half of the potential loss in 2015, but also help promote the race.
"In principle, we do not believe it is the job of the competing teams to provide financial support for individual events and we do not believe this is a sustainable model for the future," a Mercedes spokesman said.
"Nevertheless, the German GP is a core race on the Formula One calendar and we have a significant interest in this race taking place.
"Mercedes-Benz has participated in discussions and offered a significant contribution to support a successful German GP, at the Hockenheimring, in 2015. This offer was, unfortunately, not accepted," the spokesman added.

Full story here


Seems to me Claire should speak up more often!

Claire Williams feels more research needs to go into gauging what fans want to see from Formula 1 to ensure it is not spending time pushing for unwanted change.

F1 is coming under increasing pressure to resonate with fans amidst falling spectator and television audience numbers in several key markets, with Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene making his opinion felt by calling for 'revolution' with more powerful cars and greater engagement with fans.

Indeed, Williams agrees that F1 needs to do more to establish a dialogue with the general public to help shape the sport's future direction, pointing out that there has been no fan survey for a number of years now.

“As a group, we probably need to do more research into what fans want and listen to what our fans want before actually doing things that maybe the fans aren't interested in,” she said. “It is important to have a two-way conversation rather than pushing change for the sake of it.

“We haven't done a fan survey for a number of years. Obviously partners of teams and promoters do their own research, so it is a case of probably getting everyone together and pooling it and talking to the media, because that is probably the most direct portal that we have. This is probably the best way to listen and engage with fans in what they want and want to see as the future of F1.

Building on this point, Williams feels that F1 should be listening to those who watch the sport and sustain it, as well as pushing for technical innovation.

“We think F1 is a great sport and as a member of the strategy group, there are conversations going on about what we can do to make it a better sport. These conversations are focusing around changing the engine formula, to make it louder, and to change the technical regulations to make the cars more radical and more innovative, so that they represent F1.

“These are conversation we are having and where we are looking… it is about improving what is a great platform and if that drives more fans to watch our sport and ensures the sustainability of the sport, then Williams is 100 per cent behind those conversations.”

From Crash.net

[abbottcostello]

A little more detail on what happened:

Hockenheim and Bernie Ecclestone on Wednesday denied responsibility for the demise of the historic German grand prix.The Nurburgring was scheduled to host this year’s July 19 race, but confusion regarding the ownership of the fabled track moved Ecclestone to observe in January: “It can’t be Nurburgring because there’s nobody there”.
Talks, then, kicked off with Hockenheim about stepping in at short notice, even though the circuit is only contractually obliged every other year.
“Someone had to be willing to bear the financial risk,” Hockenheim chief Georg Seiler was quoted on Wednesday by Germany’s Sport Bild.

Full story here. Sometimes it seems as they don't try hard enough, but we never hear all the details I suppose!

[Nero Horse]

Vettel: "It is a shame that we do not have a German GP [this year], so I'll probably adopt the Italian GP [as my home race].

Especially for me as a Ferrari driver, Monza will be something very special. I am very excited about it."

[Rob]

Vettel: "It is a shame that we do not have a German GP [this year], so I'll probably adopt the Italian GP [as my home race].

Especially for me as a Ferrari driver, Monza will be something very special. I am very excited about it."

well he and everyone better enjoy this years race then, as next year could be the last one.

[Nero Horse]

Bernie's at it again...

The German Grand Prix could remain off the sport’s calendar after this year’s cancellation, and the iconic Italian GP may be next to go, Formula One commercial head Bernie Ecclestone said Friday.

Speaking after a meeting with team leaders ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix, Ecclestone said he could not confirm the return of the race in Germany in 2016.

The German race alternates between the Nurburgring and Hockenheim. But the Nurburgring found the event was no longer commercially viable and Hockenheim could not step in at short notice.

Hockenheim has a contract for next year.

“That doesn’t make a difference,” Ecclestone said. “A lot of people have a contract.

“The trouble in Germany was the Nurburgring spent an awful lot of money which they borrowed, didn’t need to spend what they spent, and therefore didn’t need to borrow the amount they borrowed,” Ecclestone said. “They forgot to pay it back, and that caused a few ripples. It sent a bad message.”

The number of races in Europe continues to decline as the venues struggle to cover the costs of the high hosting fees in the absence of the kind of significant government support received by venues in Asia and the Middle East.

Ecclestone said the loss of all races from the sport’s European heartland “would be terrible,” but later said “whatever goes, goes” when asked about the future of the Italian Grand Prix.

“It’s funny how these people dig up all this money for things like the Olympics, swimming championships, European athletics, and God knows what else to boost the country,” Ecclestone said.

Ecclestone said he also discussed with team leaders some ideas on how to improve F1, which has suffered from declining television audiences because of recent anti-climactic championships and high participation costs which squeeze smaller teams and bar new entrants.

The F1 head, whose past ideas have included medals instead of points and artificial rain, now advocated points for qualifying and scrambled race grids.

“I suggested that maybe we take 20 points for a race,” Ecclestone said. “Ten points for qualifying and 10 for the race. Ten points for pole. The one that’s on pole starts maybe 12th on the grid, so you’re going to get a whole bunch of decent guys starting in the middle of the field.

“They (the teams) need to think about these things. It’s difficult for them. We’ve only been talking about it for five meetings.”

Ecclestone also said there is a need for the drivers to do more to promote themselves and the sport. He praised current champion Lewis Hamilton, but said past champions Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher could have done more.

“He is the best world champion we’ve had,” Ecclestone said. “Apart from the fact he’s talented, he’s a good guy, he gets out on the street and supports and promotes Formula One.”

Ecclestone said he discussed Hamilton’s promotional prowess with Vettel: “I told Sebastian, you should be doing what he’s doing.”

He said efforts to do a promotional video with Schumacher also ran into difficulties.

“We tried to do something with ‘Schuey,’ doing a recording and he would answer questions,” Ecclestone said. “When you do and you have someone there asking the questions and they say, ‘Yep, maybe,’ then they answer, ‘Could be,’ and then, ‘Don’t know,’ there’s no point. In fact, it’s negative and worse than saying nothing.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...ticle23655889/

[kev68]

Its a shame that Hockenheim is being missed off the calendar its not the most technical but the long runs at top speed is great to watch.

kev68