Hockenheim: 'No 2017 race deal done yet'

Kimi Raikkonen of Finland and Ferrari and Nico Hulkenberg of Germany and Force India drive during the German Grand Prix at Hockenheimring on July 20, 2014
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Hockenheim chief Georg Seiler says that no deal has been done to guarantee the future of the German Grand Prix for 2017.

Hockenheim chief Georg Seiler has said that no deal has been done to guarantee the future of the German Grand Prix for 2017.

A draft calendar for next year is now doing the rounds in the paddock, featuring a German race date even though the Nurburgring is financially unable to meet its contractual obligation for 2017.

It is assumed that Hockenheim will step in, amid reports that deal where Bernie Ecclestone becomes the quasi-race promoter for a lower annual fee is being discussed.

"That would be a model for the future," Hockenheim's Seiler told SID news agency. "The promoter would be tenants and take the financial risk, as is quite normal with other events.

"We are ready," he is also quoted as saying by the DPA news agency. "Our interest is great."

However, Seiler said that although there was a "positive atmosphere" during talks with Ecclestone late in July, there has been "nothing new" since then.

"It would be important that we have certainty by October," he insisted.

"I cannot tell you what the chances are, but at the moment there is not an agreement."

Lewis Hamilton won this year's iteration of the race, with Red Bull pair Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen completing the podium.

Nico Rosberg of Germany and Mercedes GP leads Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP into the first corner during the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit de Catalunya on May 10, 2015
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