Ecclestone mystified by loss of F1 interest in Germany

Bernie Ecclestone admits he can't explain why Germany has apparently lost its interest in Formula 1.

The country which basked for over a decade in a popular fervor linked with Michael Schumacher's success saw its interest in the sport progressively wane in spite of the advent of Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg and the triumph of Mercedes.

Speaking to Die Welt newspaper, Ecclestone said: "It's a mystery to me."

"I don't know what's going wrong, but obviously Germany has lost its joy for F1."

To make matters worse, the financially crippled German Grand Prix which was organized at Hockenheim disappeared from the F1 calendar this year.

It has been reinstated for 2016 but within an annual alternate schedule shared with the Nurburgring. But the legendary track currently lacks the necessary financial support to stage a race in 2017, so the event may well fall off the calendar once again.

At one point, Ecclestone even offered to buy the Nurburgring in order to guarantee its continued presence on the F1 schedule but Bernie's offer was eventually topped by a higher bidder.

"The stupid thing is that, for the sake of two million, they lost someone who would have made sure the race would be there for 100 years," F1's supremo told Motorpsort-Magazin.com.

"I think we can say for sure that there will not be a race in 2017. Next year is fine, because we have a contract. Not a very good one, but there is one."

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