Hockenheim's F1 Future In Doubt Over Finances

BERLIN, November 30, 2008: According to Reuters, Hockenheim will be unable to stage the German Formula One Grand Prix in future unless it receives financial help from the state, circuit boss Karl-Josef Schmidt was quoted as saying on Sunday. "Without grants from the state (of Baden-Wuerttemberg) there will be no more Formula One in Hockenheim," Schmidt told Sunday's edition of daily Der Tagesspiegel.

According to the newspaper, Hockenheim made a loss of 5.3 million euros ($6.86 million) on this year's German Grand Prix. The economy ministry of Baden-Wuerttemberg has said the state does not want to take on the losses, the paper said. Despite the involvement of BMW and Mercedes, the sport's popularity in Germany has declined somewhat since the retirement of seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher in 2006. Since 2007, the country has hosted one grand prix instead of two, alternating between Hockenheim and the Nuerburgring. The German Grand Prix is due to return to Hockenheim in 2010 and that race is in doubt, according to Schmidt, who also said that without more favourable terms in the contract with the sport's organisers there would be no more grands prix in Germany.

"Formula One will disappear not just from Hockenheim but from Germany as a whole," he said. "Then it will only be run in Arab countries." The Middle East will have two grands prix next season, with Bahrain hosting the fourth round of the championship in April and Abu Dhabi making its debut with the finale in November. Canada, this year the only grand prix in North America, and France have disappeared already from the 2009 calendar for financial reasons. Formula One teams are also under pressure to make significant cost savings in the current economic crisis with the carmakers who dominate the sport suffering from a worldwide slump in sales, plunging share prices and factory layoffs.

(Writing by Kevin Fylan, editing by Alan Baldwin)