Formula One racing may not return to the famed Hockenheim circuit unless the state government does more to help financially.
Circuit boss Karl-Josef Schmidt says without state funds, “there will be no more Formula One in Hockenheim.”
“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.”
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.
Canada, this year the only grand prix in North America, and France have disappeared already from the 2009 calendar for financial reasons.
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