Nurburgring chief offers up reasons for lack of German Grand Prix on F1 calendar

Nurburgring chief Ingo Boder has said that finances, or rather a lack of them is the main reason behind there being no German Grand Prix on the Formula 1 calendar once again this season.

The F1 calendar is set to race at 23 circuits this year in what is the longest we’ve ever seen in the sport, but one of the most traditional events; The German Grand Prix, is once again missing.

Over the years we’ve seen the likes of the Nurburgring and Hockenheim host the race in the central European country but it is the case this year that we won’t be heading there and it does not appear set to make an imminent return any time soon either.

And, for Boder, it is all down to money:

“We are talking about very high entry fees and the income that we can generate,” Boder said to Sky Germany.

“Unfortunately, there is always a gap that is far too large that we as a medium-sized company simply cannot bridge.

“Without private investment and with the entry fees of Formula One we cannot even begin to risk our annual result in order to only have Formula One here once.

“We don’t see ourselves on an equal footing with these states [Qatar or Saudi Arabia]. We [have] no big investor in the background who wants or can spend that much money just for a Formula One race. I think that’s the biggest obstacle to a Formula One race in Germany.

“We have to see: is there a way for Formula One to price the traditional racetracks differently, yes or no?

“We very much welcome the fact that Domenicali has at least signaled a willingness to talk. Domenicali had said at the beginning of the year that he wanted to stimulate an “open discussion”.”