FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[scousers on tour 2008]

Yet another great track on its way out...... we may as well change the name to the middle eastern grand prix finals

Who next Monza

[Gaz]

its due to go to Nurmberg anyway right?

2008 was always going to be the last gp if i rember reading the news?

The future of Formula One at the Hockenheim circuit is in doubt unless the government decides to help financially, a track official has said.

"Without grants from the state there will be no more Formula One in Hockenheim," Karl-Josef Schmidt told the Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.

The track will be absent from the calendar next year because it is alternating the event with the Nurburgring.

According to the newspaper, Hockenheim made a loss of 5.3 million euros this year after hosting the German Grand Prix.

The Canadian and French Grands Prix will not be on next year's schedule due to financial reasons.

Schmidt believes only Arab countries will be able to afford hosting a Formula One race if the future unless they start to get better deals.

"Formula One will disappear not just from Hockenheim but from Germany as a whole. Then it will only be run in Arab countries," he added.

There are currently five German drivers racing in Formula One, plus companies such as BMW and Mercedes.

From Autosport

[la-ultima-curva]

i don't mind seeing new tracks coming into the calendar, it spices up the season normally (valencia )
but when certain historic tracks are not going to make way for new tracks, but rather due to finances... we'll thats just not cricket.

i get the feeling f1 is in a downward spiral. maybe max has a point about extreme cost cutting measures?

[2eyebrows]

This new Hockenheim sucks anyway ... the old one with the long straights throught the forest was fantastic!

[McLaren Fan]

This has been on the cards for a while now. As a matter of fact, I'm surprised they wanted to keep losing several million every other year for quite so long. I don't like the new layout of the track, but that still doesn't mean it's nice to see an historic track end up completely off the calendar. Hockenheim, for me, is like a little microcosm of Formula One: good tracks have been bastardised and European venues can't afford to remain on the calendar.

[scotty]

It's a shame, the new layout is still decent(ish), but it would have been a far greater travesty if this was 6 or 7 years back.

[Gert]

No sense in throwing money at a GP that just loses you millions.

Are there 16+ countries (excluding Monanco) that have the cash for a GP?

[McLaren Fan]

No sense in throwing money at a GP that just loses you millions.

Are there 16+ countries (excluding Monanco) that have the cash for a GP?

So far Spain seems to be willing to pump money into their races. The German government doesn't seem too interested in helping out Hockenheim or the Nürburgring. The future of the British Grand Prix is highly uncertain. There is no French Grand Prix and plans to reinstate it are not on the horizon. In fact, the only Grand Prix in Europe that is absolutely safe is Monaco!

[Denthúl]

No sense in throwing money at a GP that just loses you millions.

Are there 16+ countries (excluding Monanco) that have the cash for a GP?

So far Spain seems to be willing to pump money into their races. Germany doesn't seem too interested in helping out Hockenheim or the Nürburgring. The future of the British Grand Prix is highly uncertain. There is no French Grand Prix and plans to reinstate it are not on the horizon. In fact, the only Grand Prix in Europe that is absolutely safe is Monaco!

The only way that Germany will start pumping money in to their circuits is if the German drivers start being more successful. Basically, they need Heidfeld to be scoring wins next year and him and Vettel at the minimum to be fighting for the championship by 2010, otherwise the German public won't be as interested in races as they were when Schumacher was racing. I say Heidfeld and Vettel because Quick Nick is in arguably the best position of all the Germans at the moment, and Vettel has been pegged as the 'next Schumacher' by Germany.

[McLaren Fan]

No sense in throwing money at a GP that just loses you millions.

Are there 16+ countries (excluding Monanco) that have the cash for a GP?

So far Spain seems to be willing to pump money into their races. Germany doesn't seem too interested in helping out Hockenheim or the Nürburgring. The future of the British Grand Prix is highly uncertain. There is no French Grand Prix and plans to reinstate it are not on the horizon. In fact, the only Grand Prix in Europe that is absolutely safe is Monaco!

The only way that Germany will start pumping money in to their circuits is if the German drivers start being more successful. Basically, they need Heidfeld to be scoring wins next year and him and Vettel at the minimum to be fighting for the championship by 2010, otherwise the German public won't be as interested in races as they were when Schumacher was racing. I say Heidfeld and Vettel because Quick Nick is in arguably the best position of all the Germans at the moment, and Vettel has been pegged as the 'next Schumacher' by Germany.

Yeah, I agree. Having a good driver is important. Some countries just like Formula One (such as Canada and Britain), but others need a little prodding. Interest in Formula One in Spain was non-existent until Alonso started winning races. Germany is much the same. Pre-Schumacher, the size of the crowds attending the races was indifferent. With Schumacher doing well, the grandstands were packed and Ecclestone moved the European Grand Prix there. Post-Schumacher, they've unsurprisingly dropped like a stone.

[Hanwombat]

This new Hockenheim sucks anyway ... the old one with the long straights throught the forest was fantastic!

YUP, the new Hockenheim track is poo, miss the old one. By far was my fave track

[7UpJordan]

No sense in throwing money at a GP that just loses you millions.

Are there 16+ countries (excluding Monanco) that have the cash for a GP?

So far Spain seems to be willing to pump money into their races.

Absolutely, and we all hate Catalunya-wn and Valenci-yawn was easily the worst race of the season. Yet Bernie keeps them on...

[12doorAnglia]

hockenhiem ceased to be a great track when it was brutilized to make the new so called track, the old curcuit had some of the best racing i ever saw, the slipsteaming on the long straights was intense. i for one will not miss the new track

[darwin dali]

No sense in throwing money at a GP that just loses you millions.

Are there 16+ countries (excluding Monanco) that have the cash for a GP?

So far Spain seems to be willing to pump money into their races. The German government doesn't seem too interested in helping out Hockenheim or the Nürburgring. The future of the British Grand Prix is highly uncertain. There is no French Grand Prix and plans to reinstate it are not on the horizon. In fact, the only Grand Prix in Europe that is absolutely safe is Monaco!

I'd say Monza is as safe as Monaco or could you imagine Ferrari participating in F1 w/o Monza?
They'd probably pay the difference to the GP organizers if necessary out of their pocket change

[darwin dali]

No sense in throwing money at a GP that just loses you millions.

Are there 16+ countries (excluding Monanco) that have the cash for a GP?

So far Spain seems to be willing to pump money into their races. Germany doesn't seem too interested in helping out Hockenheim or the Nürburgring. The future of the British Grand Prix is highly uncertain. There is no French Grand Prix and plans to reinstate it are not on the horizon. In fact, the only Grand Prix in Europe that is absolutely safe is Monaco!

The only way that Germany will start pumping money in to their circuits is if the German drivers start being more successful. Basically, they need Heidfeld to be scoring wins next year and him and Vettel at the minimum to be fighting for the championship by 2010, otherwise the German public won't be as interested in races as they were when Schumacher was racing. I say Heidfeld and Vettel because Quick Nick is in arguably the best position of all the Germans at the moment, and Vettel has been pegged as the 'next Schumacher' by Germany.

Yeah, I agree. Having a good driver is important. Some countries just like Formula One (such as Canada and Britain), but others need a little prodding. Interest in Formula One in Spain was non-existent until Alonso started winning races. Germany is much the same. Pre-Schumacher, the size of the crowds attending the races was indifferent. With Schumacher doing well, the grandstands were packed and Ecclestone moved the European Grand Prix there. Post-Schumacher, they've unsurprisingly dropped like a stone.

Italy has also been w/o a top driver in ages and yet, like Britain or Canada has maintained a huge fan base (due to Ferrari).