Hockenheim say any new F1 contract must be risk-free

BARCELONA: German Grand Prix organisers say they cannot afford to host the Formula One race at Hockenheim on current terms after this year and any new contract has to be free of financial risk.

The circuit, near Mannheim in the Upper Rhine valley, ends in July a 10-year deal agreed with former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

The Briton’s business model was based on hefty hosting fees, increasing on an annual basis, but Ecclestone was replaced at the helm in January last year when Liberty Media took over.

Liberty have said they want to protect traditional venues and Hockenheim, as well as Britain’s Silverstone, could be a test of how much they are prepared to put their money where their mouth is.

“We would like to have it (the race) in the future but the key point is we cannot prolong under current conditions,” Hockenheim-Ring marketing director Jorn Teske told reporters at the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday.

“We would like to have a contract which will take the risk from us. This is the basic point ... we cannot continue in the same way.

“We think we should restructure the business model. This could be track rental, but it could be also sharing of ticket income and sharing of costs.”

Hockenheim receives no state funding whereas other countries with little or no motorsport heritage – like Azerbaijan, Singapore and Abu Dhabi – pay tens of millions of dollars to host races.

With Miami likely to debut next year, and Vietnam in the pipeline as well as Danish backers proposing a race in Copenhagen, Liberty have plenty of options.