F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone "will not forgo the sanctioning fees in order to have a German Grand Prix in '17," according to the SID. He said, "Hockenheim has not yet been secured for next year. If they are not willing to pay the money, which all other European promoters pay as well, then there likely won't be a German race." Next year's German GP was supposed to be hosted by the Nürburgring, which together with the Hockenheimring alternates on an annual basis as host venue of the event. However, financial constraints make it impossible for the Nürburgring to stage an F1 race and Hockenheim was put on the provisional calendar for '17. Hockenheimring Managing Dir Georg Seiler has for weeks been in negotiations with Ecclestone, but he does not want to pay a sanctioning fee. Seiler, who said that a decision would be made by mid-November, said, "The result cannot be a minus." Hockenheim's current contract with the racing series ends in '18 (SID, 10/31).
MEXICO RATINGS: The SID reported German free-to-air TV channel RTL "drew close to 4.5 million viewers for its broadcast of the Mexican F1 Grand Prix on Sunday." The race, which was won by Lewis Hamilton, "attracted an average of 4.49 million viewers." That is about 800,000 more viewers than in '15. The figure "translated into a market share of 12.6%." The grand prix "had a peak audience of up to 5.42 million viewers" (SID, 10/31).
