Nurburgring ‘willing to talk’ about returning to F1 race calendar

The German Grand Prix does not currently hold a place on the F1 calendar but officials would like to see that change

Officials at the iconic Nurburgring say they are open to discussions with Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali that could see the German Grand Prix return to its race calendar.

The German Grand Prix has not been held since 2019 and despite a record 23 races scheduled in the 2022 season, F1 will not be heading to the country next year.

That is despite Germany’s long history with the sport, as well as the connections with the Nurburgring - which last held a race in 2020 when the Eifel Grand Prix replaced one of the cancelled events in the Covid-hit season.

In a recent interview with Sport1, Domenicali said there “should be an open discussion to sound out how Formula One can return to Germany” within the coming weeks.

But the F1 CEO also added: “Unfortunately, I don’t see any real interest from Germany in becoming part of the Formula One calendar again. That’s a shame and actually hard to believe. I hope this will change again in the future.”

In response to those comments, Nurburgring officials have insisted that they are planning to bid for the German Grand Prix to return to the track, but only under “economically sensible” conditions.

“We are still willing to talk,” communications director Alexander Gerhard told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. “We continue to take the view that we can very well imagine Formula 1 at the Nurburgring, but under economically sensible general conditions.”

The German Grand Prix was held at the Hockenheimring on its last outing in 2019. It was last staged at the Nurburgring in 2013, with the race won by Sebastian Vettel.