[f1x2] Ecclestone: 2015 German GP at Hockenheim: Update

2015 German GP to be at Hockenheim and not Nurburgring, Bernie Ecclesone reveals
"It can't be Nurburgring because there's nobody there," says Bernie



Under the terms of the race-share agreement Germany’s two F1 venues entered into in 2007, the Nurburgring had been slated to host this year’s July 19 event after Hockenheim staged last season's race.

However, with the race venue already having been listed as 'to be confirmed' on the 2015 calendar released by the FIA, it emerged in recent days that the Nurburgring had actually yet to sign a deal to fulfil its obligations.

Ecclestone has now confirmed that the race will remain at Hockenheim for a second straight year.

"It's going to be at Hockenheim, we're in the middle of doing something with them. It can't be Nurburgring because there's nobody there," the F1 supremo told Reuters.

"We've got a contract in place (with Hockenheim), we just have to amend the years of the contract. It was alternating with Nurburgring so we'll just take that out.”

Following yesterday’s revelations by the CEO of the Nürburgring that no deal is in place for the circuit to host this year’s German Grand Prix, with a race venue still holding ‘To Be Announced’ status on the 2015 calendar, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has today revealed that the race will be held at Hockenheim.

Yesterday, Nurburgring boss Carsten Schumacher said that the circuit had not sealed a deal to host the race but that any contract would need to “remain affordable”. In response, Ecclestone this morning told the Reuters news agency that the race will be held at Hockenheim, ending the race-sharing scheme the Nurburgring has held with the Baden-Württemberg circuit since 2007.

“It’s going to be at Hockenheim, we’re in the middle of doing something with them. It can’t be Nürburgring because there’s nobody there,” Ecclestone to the news agency. “We’ve got a contract in place (with Hockenheim), we just have to amend the years of the contract. It was alternating with Nürburgring so we’ll just take that out.

“Providing the contract goes through as we expect it to, we’ll be in good shape,” he added.

Ecclestone continued by saying he had not discussed a deal with the Nürburgring.

“We wanted to buy the Nürburgring, we made an offer and somebody topped us with a few dollars and bought it,” he said of previous circuit owners Capricorn. “And then they couldn’t pay and it went on sale again. I said I’d be interested and then they found somebody else. So I don’t know what’s happening.”

The Nürburging has been under the control of Viktor Kharitonin, who controls pharmaceutical company Pharmstandard, since last October. It’s believed the Russian bought a two thirds stake in the circuit, with the remaining third being held by a company called GetSpeed GmbH.

The Nurburgring’s biennial place on the calendar has been at the subject of speculation ever since 2012 when the historic venue ran into severe financial difficulties, and near bankruptcy, after the track's owners became embroiled in a dispute with the venue leaseholders.

The arrival of new owners last March had appeared to increase the likelihood of the venue, which is situated in the heart of the Eifel mountains, returning in 2015 but it appears the terms of the F1 deal have proved prohibitive.

Although alternating on the calendar over the past eight years, the Nurburgring and Hockenheim have been regular features on the calendar for decades and both circuits staged annual races between 1995 and 2006 at the height of Michael Schumacher’s era of dominance.

Hockenheim, however, has not been without problems itself and concerns were expressed at last year’s low attendance figures despite the dominance of German carmarker Mercedes and the recent title-winning successes of Sebastian Vettel.

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Circuits weigh up cost of F1 as Nurburgring says deal must be ‘affordable’ and Silverstone looks to drop ticket prices




Following Monday’s contrasting views on the number of races held in particular regions from circuit bosses in Bahrain and the USA, with Bahrain International Circuit, Sheikh Salman, saying a third Middle Eastern race would be “counterproductive” and US GP promoter Bobby Epstein calling for three races in the United States, two circuits from F1′s European heartland have raised questions about the finances involved in staging grands prix.

When the 2015 F1 calendar was first announced the German Grand Prix was included without a venue specified. The 2014 edition of the grand prix took place at the Hockenheimring, itself no stranger to financial troubles, and under the event-sharing agreement begun in 2007 this season’s race is due to hosted by the Nurburgring.

The most recent F1 calendar, however, still features the location of the German Grand Prix as ‘To Be Announced’ and if the current boss of the troubled Nurburgring is to be believed that situation could continue.

Carsten Schumacher, CEO of the circuit, today confirmed that no deal to host the race has yet been done and that any proposed deal “will have to remain affordable”.

“Formula One is welcome at the Nürburgring,” he said. “It provides worldwide television pictures, a positive image and would bring high sales to the region.

“However, the Formula One has to remain affordable. We don’t comment ongoing conversations. We will communicate this, if there is a concrete result.”

In the meantime, the future of the German Grand Prix remains cloudy.

Last year’s race at Hockenheim attracted a poor crowd of approximately 50,000 on race day, underlining the difficulties F1 has traditionally had in the post-Schumacher era, despite the presence of drivers such as Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg and Nico Hulkenberg.

Silverstone, by contrast, hosted F1 in front of a packed house last year, with a reported 88,000 fans though the gates on Friday, 105,000 fans attending qualifying and 122,000 spectators turning up on race day.

Growing those kinds of numbers is high on new Silverstone managing director Patrick Allen’s wish list and the circuit boss is keen to see ticket prices fall.

“What I would like to do is see ticket prices falling for the British Grand Prix,” he told the BBC referencing the current prices, which see a general admission adult race day ticket costing £155. “In my mind I have the benchmark of a £99 admission ticket. I think that’s what customers deserve. I would much rather see better ticket offers and once people are here, do more for them.

“If you want to get more people here every year, you don’t do that by putting the ticket prices up. We are desperately trying to bring the ticket price down.”

Allen is hopeful that slashing the price of tickets will not hurt profits, with greater attendance making up any shortfall. However, it remains to be seen how many more spectators the circuit could cope with. There is also the issue of a rights fee that is believed to escalate annually over the course of the circuit’s deal. Allen though insisted that the circuit’s capacity can cover this.

“We have headroom in capacity, so the volume aspect will cover the inflationary aspect of the grand prix escalator,” he said. “We have other parts of the business, when the grand prix isn’t on, we can make money out of.

“I’m looking at the business as a whole, and not just one event per year, and it’s the whole that helps deliver customer value,” he concluded. “That is what we need to think about, not a discrete event.”

Russian investor Viktor Kharitonin bought a two thirds stake, through a holding company, in the financially troubled Nuerburgring in October.

The remaining third is held by GetSpeed GmbH, which is owned by a management consultant.

Kharitonin controls Russian pharmaceutical company Pharmstandard, which has a market capitalisation of more than $1.08 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Capricorn and GetSpeed won a takeover battle in March to buy the track for more than 100 million euros, including debt, but Capricorn had trouble financing the deal.

The European Commission also ruled last year that state aid given to develop the race track into a racing theme park was in breach of European Union rules and must be paid back.