The Hockenheim circuit had agreed terms for a F1 deal in the Ecclestone era and are now in the final year of their contract.
It took over from Nurburgring as Germany’s latest F1 venue, however Hockenheim authorities have made it clear that they would push for a renewal only if they are given new and improved commercial terms.
Hockenheim don’t necessarily have want the fee to increase but want to be ‘risk free’.
“We’re aiming to host a GP in the future, and we’d like to have it in the future, but the key point is we cannot prolong under current conditions,” said Jorn Teske, the venue’s marketing director.
“We would like to have a contract which will take the risk from us, this is the basic point.
“We are not speaking about the fee, we are speaking about a new contract where we definitely have no risk.
“We have a circuit which does not receive any financial support from anybody, neither from the state nor from the region nor from economic companies, so we have to make and manage everything for ourselves.
“We had some losses in the past. We had a 10-year contract, and we fulfilled this contract, even though we had some better and some worse years.
“Now’s the time that we cannot continue in the same way. We would be very, very happy to have F1 in Germany, not only for us, but especially for the fans. But we have to change the basics.” he added.
Hockenheim want a restructured business model which helps them cover their losses and has next to no sanctioning fee.
We are always talking about fees, and then we were asked ‘how much fee would you pay to host the race?’
“This is not our question, because we think we should restructure the business model.
“This could be a track rental [by F1 or a third-party promoter], or it could be a sharing of ticket income, and sharing of costs.
“So this is now a question of the negotiations, how it could end up. But there are many models which could work without risk.
“No fee, or a basic fee, just earning the costs, and then sharing the ticket income.
“We presented our ideas, we presented the figures, very transparent, very clear, in the details, and now they [F1] have to think about it.
“But it’s not that easy because it’s a financial decision they have to take. Do they take the big money? Then we’re out.
“Or do they believe in the importance of the traditional race tracks, and an important automotive country, in Germany?” he concluded.
