Hockenheim open to helping F1’s 2020 season bid

Hockenheim is understood to the latest track not on the original 2020 calendar offering to stage a race to help Formula 1’s bid to get its season off the ground.

The German Grand Prix dropped off the 2020 calendar due to Hockenheim failing to agree fresh terms with F1 to host the race this year, after title sponsorship from Mercedes had helped retain the event last season.

Amid the major disruption to the original 22-round 2020 season schedule caused by the coronavirus crisis which has seen the opening 10 races either postponed or cancelled altogether, F1 chiefs are desperately trying to piece together a rescheduled calendar.

A initial blueprint was revealed by F1 earlier this week, in which it is targeting staging between 15 and 18 events with a number of European races held behind closed doors in July and beginning with potential double-headers in Austria and Great Britain.

Imola and Portimao have recently offered to host races in order to help F1, and according to reports in German media, Hockenheim has become the latest circuit to throw its hat into the ring for a possible round during the summer.

"We have been in regular contact with Formula 1, since the last race in 2019," Hockenheim CEO Jorn Teske told AutoBild.

"The topic was indeed broached. We all see that the Formula 1 calendar is messed up by the circumstances.

"If there is any interest in Formula 1 driving in Hockenheim this summer, we would be willing to talk. The prerequisite is, of course, that all health requirements and financial feasibility are guaranteed."

Any plans would need to be approved by the German government and follow national restrictions.

Germany recently extended its travel ban until mid-June and has seen a rise in coronavirus infections during the past week after easing its lockdown measures on April 20.