The German GP may not feature on the 2019 Formula 1 calendar as the promoters are still trying to negotiate a deal with Liberty Media.
The race in Germany has been a point of discussion for many years now as financial constraints forced Nurburging and Hockenheim to host the races alternatively since the 2008 season, but Nurburgring couldn’t stage the 2015 and 2017 races.
Hockenheim though staged the race in 2016 and are scheduled to host the 2018 event during the July 20-22 weekend. Despite the German manufacturer, Mercedes winning back-to-back titles, it has become financially a huge ask for the organisers.
The constructors’ championship wins were also backed by Sebastian Vettel winning the drivers’ title with Red Bull Racing and even Nico Rosberg but the crowd has stayed away largely from filling up the grandstands.
This has not only surprised the fans, the pundits but also team owners like Red Bull Racing’s Christian Horner – whose parent company, Red Bull has helped in the revival of the Austrian Grand Prix at Red Bull Ring.
“I think Austria is naturally far more important than Germany and very good that we have a Grand Prix here for years to come,” he said. “It’s always been surprising, the last few years, that there hasn’t been more support at the German Grand Prix.
“Especially with German world champions, German teams and hopefully at Hockenheim this year there will be a good turnout. I remember going there in the Schumacher time when the places were packed. Hopefully the fans get behind the racing, we have a great crowd.
“If the stadium is full in Hockenheim it’s one of the biggest atmospheres that Formula One can produce. It’s a shame that it’s not on the calendar but what’s encouraging is there’s so much competition for races on the calendar these days that races like Germany are struggling to have a continued presence.”
Like Red Bull’s help for Red Bull Ring, Mercedes hasn’t played the promoters’ role much to rally behind the German GP – something which Toto Wolff thinks is not on Mercedes’ agenda like it is for Red Bull in Austria.
“From an Austrian standpoint I’m very proud that Red Bull or Mr Mateschitz have created such a fantastic infrastructure around Spielberg,” he said. “It’s not only on the track, you look can look at everything.
“The hotels are first class, the options for entertainment are really great and the variability is what makes Formula One. On Hockenheim, obviously for us it’s not an easy situation because we would like to have a German race.
“[Not only] for our fans in Germany and all the Mercedes staff but you need to draw a line between operating a team and getting involved in race promotion, as far as it comes back to Mercedes as a team and this is what we’ve done.
“And the reason why we have a little bit of a hangover in Germany is maybe because the Germans have been so successful. We had seven years of Schumacher dominance and pretty soon thereafter four years of Sebastian winning it all and maybe you have to go through a bit of a dip to recover,” he explained.
The 2019 season in Australia is set to start a week earlier to accommodate gaps between races in the season and not feature a triple header like France, Austria and Britain this year. The race in German GP could be replaced by Miami – both subjected to approval as of now.