F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone "has confirmed there will only be 19 races on the 2013 calendar and the Nürburgring will be one of the venues," according to PLANET F1. Motorsports governing body FIA announced late last year that this season "would consist of 20 races with an unconfirmed European Grand Prix on July 21 added to the schedule." The venue for the German GP at the time had "yet to be named." However, there will be no 20th race after Ecclestone said that the '13 calendar "will feature 19 races after Turkey's failed bid to return." Ecclestone "also confirmed that the Nürburgring will host this year's German Grand Prix, ruling Hockenheim out." Ecclestone said, "It should be the Nürburgring, and we are trying to make it happen. I'm talking with them today (Tuesday)" (PLANET F1, 1/9). Nürburgring spokesperson Karl-Heinz Steinkühler said, "We perceive it as very positive that Mr. Ecclestone enters the, from our viewpoint, final negotiations about an F1 Grand Prix at the Nürburgring so optimistically. The last talks will be held in the near future. There surely will be a result then" (AUTO MOTOR UND SPORT, 1/8).
TAKE CARE, TURKEY: HURRIYET DAILY NEWS reported Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan "chose not to approve the F1 deal" that would have landed the race in Istanbul in '13. The project, set to cost Turkey around $20M in total, "was supposed to receive" $13M of state funding. Erdoğan, however, "did not give his approval, and the project fell apart" (HURRIYET DAILY NEWS, 1/9).
