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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says that the current world champions will not intervene in an attempt to keep the German Grand Prix on the calendar for 2020.
The race was only kept on the calendar for the current season due to an informal meeting that took place between Chase Carey, Sean Bratches and Mercedes' management. This meeting led to the German manufacturer becoming the title sponsor of the event for 2019, with the option to renew the deal for 2020.
However, with more races being added to the calendar in the form of Vietnam and The Netherlands, it is looking more and more likely that the deal with Hockenheim will not be renewed.
With the Spanish Grand Prix looking ever more certain for the years to come, even with the loss of the German Grand Prix there could still be 22 races on the calendar. This could become a problem for the logistics of the teams, as they are already stretched to full capacity with the current 21-race schedule.
"[The] deal came up pretty spontaneously," said Wolff. "We had a meeting on Sunday morning with Chase and Sean, and they said, 'Would you be able to help us [in] bridging the gap?'
"And in half an hour we bartered out a deal in order to make the German GP happen.
"But this is not something which we are in a position to continue. Also because I believe that we shouldn't really be interfering in the business of Liberty and F1 - it is up to them to decide which tracks are on or off.
"I believe it's really encouraging that there is lots of interest in hosting a race. Liberty has the great problem of having more demand than supply, and that is good, and also good for the teams, because fundamentally we share a large part of the prize fund.
"And this is where I would like to leave it, because it's Chase's and his team's call to decide where we go.
"For us the German GP is important, because Daimler is a German company, and there are lots of family and friends in Germany, but we can't interfere in their business."
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Replies (2)
Login to replyRam Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Nor should they.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Good, but I really hope Hockenheim remains. I'd love to visit a GP there for next year.