11/05/2015
NEWS STORY
Hockenheim boss claims he is "1,000 per cent sure" the German Grand Prix will be back on the calendar next season.
The 2015 event, scheduled to take place at the Nurburgring, was finally officially dropped from the schedule once the season was underway. Efforts to save the race, including the offer of money from Mercedes, couldn't help the event which in recent years has been shared on a bi-annual basis between the circuit and Hockenheim.
Even though Hockenheim was scheduled to host next year's event - crying off from hosting this year's race due to the lack of time in which to organise things - F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone had hinted that the long-term future of F1 in Germany is doomed even with the current world championship team being from the country and several German drivers on the grid. Indeed, as the sport seeks out the wealthier new economies the future of F1 racing in Europe is looking bleak.
However, Hockenheim boss Georg Seiler is confident that Germany will be back on the calendar next season, saying that he has the contract for next year and will respect it.
Insisting that he has a "good relationship" with Ecclestone, he told Bild he is "100, even 1,000 per cent sure" the 2016 event will happen.
Like Hockenheim, which was bought out last year, Hockenheim is struggling financially, last year's event memorable for the swathes of empty seats in the arena, seats which were filled during the height of the Schumacher era.
Then again, despite the best efforts of the TV cameras, viewers will have noticed the many empty seats during yesterday's Spanish Grand Prix.
Only a few years ago, both countries were able to support two events on the calendar, now they can barely manage one.