German Grand Prix set to drop off 2017 calendar

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Bernie Ecclestone says he doesn’t understand why the German Grand Prix is unable to find the financial backing to host a race in 2017.

The race at Hockenheim was already marked as subject to confirmation on the provisional calendar, and the circuit’s boss George Seiler told AutoBild the race would not be going ahead.

“There was no offer that would have excluded all economic risks,” Seiler said. “But that was always our prerequisite. A pity, but not a surprise considering that the date was subject to confirmation and no deal between F1 and the Hockenheimring was put in place.”

Asked about the comments by Sky Sports, Ecclestone replied: “It’s better that it happens.

“But we’ve suffered there for a few years, they have a new tax structure in Germany that has caused them even more damage than they’ve got already.

“They’ve got everything. They’ve won the constructors’ championship, whatever happens they’ve got world champions. We don’t understand what’s wrong with Germany.”

Asked about the uncertain futures of Singapore and Malaysia too, Ecclestone said a more competitive sport would help secure more interest from promoters.

“I hope not. What we need is not one team to win nearly all the races, we need some competition. Let’s get Ferrari and Red Bull back on track.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.