Bernie Ecclestone Perplexed Over Absence Of This F1 Race

No room for Germany?

Much has been made of the ever-growing schedule in F1 over the last decade. Teams and drivers now take on a record 24 races per season, plus filming days, pre-season testing and Pirelli tire testing across the year, with interest from around the world in hosting events higher than ever.

F1 is known to be in talks with Thailand about a race as well as South Africa, with many other potential host nations throwing their hats in the ring to try and make it onto the calendar.

One new race will feature in 2026 when cars take to the Madring in Madrid, Spain for the first time. The last new race added to the calendar was the Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023.

There will be rotational races from 2027 to try to ensure that more than the 24 incumbents will be able to host races, with the Belgian Grand Prix already confirmed to be a biannual event. But Ecclestone, who ceded control of F1 after Liberty Media's acquisition in 2017, has revealed his surprise at the lack of German presence on the list of races.

“I often think about it and I don’t understand it,” Ecclestone told German publication Sport.de.

"It's just strange that it's not made possible. No one would oppose it, except maybe a few people in Germany itself. It's just a matter of money. If someone were there with the right funding, it would work."

The German Grand Prix was formerly a staple of the calendar, with its roots in the fearsome original layouts of the Hockenheimring and Nurburgring Nordschleife.

But as times changed, both layouts were left behind and although both venues hosted races, they were on radically different designs to their predecessors.

The country saw popularity rise during Michael Schumacher's time in the sport, not least when he won five world championships in a row with Ferrari between 2000 and 2004 to take his tally to seven.