Germany battles to retain its place on the F1 calendar

Dec 2, 2008, 15:34 GMT

Hamburg - Mercedes and BMW have both come out strongly in support of Germany continuing to host a Formula One grand prix in the wake of reports at the weekend that the country could be without a F1 race in 2010 for financial reasons.

Hockenheim GmbH, the cash-strapped company that runs the Hockenheim circuit, is considering withdrawing from the 2010 German Grand Prix and officials from the Nuerburgring have already said they would be unable to stage the event, which would leave the country without a F1 race for the first time in nearly half a century.

'Germany is an important market for BMW, where we have a big fan base. Formula One should not lose its traditional arenas,' a spokesperson for the German carmaker told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. 'A solution has to be found here.'

Mercedes motorsport Norbert Haug also spoke out in favour of securing the German GP.

'Of course we are interested that German Formula One fans have at least one grand prix in Germany, especially as until recently they had two per season,' he said.

Hockenheim and the Nuerburgring currently share the German GP, with this year's race in Hockenheim and the 2009 edition at the Nuerburgring.

However, Hockenheim GmbH made a loss of 5.3 million euros (6.7 million dollars hosting this year's race and its ability to stage the 2010 race came under threat when the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, where the track is located, announced last Friday that it will not provide funds for the troubled organizers.

The Nuerburgring is expecting to make a similar loss in 2009 when it hosts the event so won't be in a position to step in for Hockenheim in 2010.

But Hockenheim CEO Karl-Josef Schmidt said there is still hope if the company can put together a financial package before a decision is made on December 17 about whether to continue.

F1 has already lost the French GP at Magny-Cours and the Canadian GP in Montreal as the sport looks east to Asia and the Middle East. Singapore hosted the first-ever night GP in 2008 while the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will debut in 2009.

Germany was last without a Formula One race in 1960. The country of record champion Michael Schumacher staged two races 1995-2006, the Germans Grand Prix in Hockenheim and European GP at the Nuerburgring.

The country has four drivers in the sport, Nick Heidfeld, Sebastian Vettel, Adrian Sutil and Nico Rosberg. Car makers Mercedes and BMW are also big F1 players, and the Toyota team is based near Cologne.