No German GP after 2009
Authorities have scheduled a meeting on March 25, next Wednesday, to determine whether or not they should organize a race at the circuit in 2010, the German news agency SID reports.
Recent editions of the race, alternated annually on the F1 calendar with the Nurburgring, have attracted multi-million euro losses, which the local promoters are no longer able to sustain.
"On March 25 we will evaluate the explanations and make a decision about whether we continue with formula one in Hockenheim," town mayor Dieter Gummer said.
12/01/08 (GMM) Hockenheim is unlikely to be able to host the German grand prix in 2010 or beyond, the circuit's boss Karl-Josef Schmidt has been quoted as saying.
He told Sunday's Der Tagesspiegel newspaper that the loss-making event will cease to be organized unless the state Baden-Wuerttemberg government pledges financial support.
"Without grants from the state there will be no more formula one in Hockenheim," said Schmidt.
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Earlier this year, a spokesman for the state's ministry of economic affairs said it is "not the task" of the public to fund events at the Hockenheimring. It is understood the position has not changed.
The Nurburgring, which alternates the hosting of Germany's annual race date with Hockenheim, is scheduled to stage the 2009 event.
Nurburgring general manager Walter Kafitz responded to the news about Hockenheim by saying the circuit is not in a position to host the grand prix every year.
"We can not afford that," he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, admitting that – like Hockenheim – the Nurburgring also loses a single-digit million dollar sum per grand prix.
Schmidt warned: "Formula one will disappear not just from Hockenheim but from Germany as a whole.
"Then it will only be run in Arab countries."
11/30/08 Germany could be without a Formula One race for the first time in half a century in 2010 for financial reasons, it emerged on Sunday. Officials from the Nurbürgring said they would be unable to stage the 2010 German Grand Prix if the original cash-strapped host Hockenheim had to withdraw.
"We can not afford that," Nurbürgring general manager Walter Kafitz told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Hockenheim and the Nurbürgring currently share the German Grand Prix, with this year's race in Hockenheim and the 2009 edition on the Nurbürgring.
Hockenheim's ability to stage the 2010 race came under threat when the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, where the track is located, announced on Friday that it will not provide funds for the troubled organizers.
"There will be no more Formula One in Hockenheim without state funds," Hockenheim boss Josef Schmidt told Sunday's edition of Der Tagesspiegel paper.
Hockenheim ran up a deficit of more than 5 million euros (6.3 million dollars) from the 2008 race and would have similar losses in 2010. Kafitz said that Nurburgring’s losses in 2007 were in the same range. EarthTimes.org