Confirming all the other 19 rounds, the World Motor Sport Council noted, “The German Grand Prix has been withdrawn as the commercial rights holder (Bernie) and the promoter did not reach agreement.”
While Ecclestone said last weekend that the event looked unlikely, it was subsequent comments from both the Nurburgring and Hockenheim that finally signaled the death knell for the event.
Last year’s event at Hockenheim was poorly attended, the TV cameras unable to hide vast swathes of empty seats in the arena, seats that were filled to capacity during the golden era when Michael Schumacher ruled that saw Germany hosting two rounds of the championship for several years.
Now, despite a German team winning the titles and three German drivers, the demand isn’t there.
In recent years, faced with falling spectator numbers and the ever increasing race fees, the race has alternated between Hockenheim and the Nurburgring with the former hosting the 2014 event and scheduled to host it again next year.
With the Nurburgring under new ownership – Ecclestone having failed in his bid to buy the legendary facility – the circuit was unable to host this year’s event and faced with last year’s loss, and a repeat in 2016, Hockenheim was unable to step in.
On Tuesday, Georg Seiler, managing director of Hockenheim, told Bild, “We have no hope any more of having a Formula One race here this year. We did everything in the last few years to keep the fans happy.
“We had declared ourselves willing to step in for Nurburgring, something we were contractually not obliged to do,” he added. “There were talks with third parties over taking over the risk but they were not successful.”
While on Thursday, a spokesman for the Nurburgring said the circuit could not host the race this year “for time, financial and organizational reasons”.
