Zoom German taxpayer unwilling to fund Formula One

Hockenheim is unlikely to be able to host the German Grand Prix in 2010 or beyond, the circuit's boss Karl-Josef Schmidt has been quoted as saying.

He told Sunday's Der Tagesspiegel newspaper that the loss-making event will cease to be organised unless the state Baden-Wuerttemberg government pledges financial support.

"Without grants from the state there will be no more Formula One in Hockenheim," said Schmidt.

Earlier this year, a spokesman for the state's ministry of economic affairs said it is 'not the task' of the public to fund events at the Hockenheimring. It is understood the position has not changed.

The Nurburgring, which alternates the hosting of Germany's annual race date with Hockenheim, is scheduled to stage the 2009 event.

Nurburgring General Manager Walter Kafitz responded to the news about Hockenheim by saying the circuit is not in a position to host the Grand Prix every year.

"We cannot afford that," he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, admitting that - like Hockenheim - the Nurburgring also loses a single-digit million dollar sum per Grand Prix.

Schmidt warned: "Formula one will disappear not just from Hockenheim but from Germany as a whole. Then it will only be run in Arab countries."

Source: GMM
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