bigbadbrother
03-22-2015, 02:01 PM
Luke Smith
Mercedes offered to pay for half of the losses made by the Hockenheim circuit in a bid to save the German Grand Prix and keep it on the calendar for the 2015 season, it has been revealed.
Earlier this week, the FIA confirmed that there would be no Formula 1 world championship race in Germany for the first time since 1960 after neither Hockenheim nor the Nurburgring could come to an agreement with commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone.
However, according to a report by the Observer in the UK, Mercedes had offered to make up 50% of the losses in a bid to keep the race alive.
“The organization of the race calendar and of individual events is a matter for the FIA, the commercial rights holder and the individual promoters,” a Mercedes spokesperson is quoted as saying.
“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.
“Nevertheless, the German GP is a core race on the Formula 1 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.”
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff had previously said that the German marque would try to help and save its home race, and with the Nurburgring also making an offer to Ecclestone to host the race in 2015, it is clear that the event did not go down without a fight.
Although some figures within the sport do expect the race to return in 2016, with the calendar continuing to swell, it could be that both the Nurburgring and Hockenheim face an uphill struggle to host F1 again in the near future.
Mercedes offered to pay for half of the losses made by the Hockenheim circuit in a bid to save the German Grand Prix and keep it on the calendar for the 2015 season, it has been revealed.
Earlier this week, the FIA confirmed that there would be no Formula 1 world championship race in Germany for the first time since 1960 after neither Hockenheim nor the Nurburgring could come to an agreement with commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone.
However, according to a report by the Observer in the UK, Mercedes had offered to make up 50% of the losses in a bid to keep the race alive.
“The organization of the race calendar and of individual events is a matter for the FIA, the commercial rights holder and the individual promoters,” a Mercedes spokesperson is quoted as saying.
“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.
“Nevertheless, the German GP is a core race on the Formula 1 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.”
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff had previously said that the German marque would try to help and save its home race, and with the Nurburgring also making an offer to Ecclestone to host the race in 2015, it is clear that the event did not go down without a fight.
Although some figures within the sport do expect the race to return in 2016, with the calendar continuing to swell, it could be that both the Nurburgring and Hockenheim face an uphill struggle to host F1 again in the near future.