Zoom An important race for BMW and Mercedes

The government of Germany's Baden-Wuerttemberg state has convened a meeting to discuss the financial strife of the Hockenheim circuit.

The loss-making venue said this week that it will no longer host the Grand Prix in 2010 or beyond without state financial support.

And even though state officials have so far declined direct grants, the Mannheimer Morgen newspaper said a meeting with stakeholders of the local region has been organised with the aim of finding a solution.

The German car manufacturers on the grid, however, insist it is not their role to bail out race hosts.

"The teams and manufacturers are responsible for the sport, not for the financing of the race meetings," Mercedes' Norbert Haug told the news agency SID.

A BMW spokesman added: "Commercial considerations are for the organisers and for FOM. It is here that a solution must be found."

Hockenheim's woes have raised doubts that Germany's entire future on the F1 calendar could be in danger, given the current arrangement with the Nurburgring to annually alternate the hosting rights.

"Like some other European races, Germany is a fundamental component of the Grand Prix schedule," a concerned Hermann Tomczyk, sport President of the German automobile club, told DPA.

Source: GMM
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