Bernie Ecclestone is putting pressure on Hockenheim to up its game in order to secure Germany's future on the F1 calendar. Hope that the Nurburgring might bounce back from its troubles is now all but gone, but F1 supremo Ecclestone said he preferred to see Germany sit out a year in 2015 than agree a cut-price deal for a Hockenheim stand-in race.

"We wanted to wake Hockenheim up a little bit," he told the German business newspaper Handelsblatt. "They are still 20 years behind the times when I compare it to other places." Ecclestone said the existing contract, set for two more races in 2016 and 2018, is "not very good", adding that whether Germany has a future in F1 is "in principle a question of money".

So with an unprecedented 21 races already on the calendar, the 85-year-old Briton might have to scrap existing events in order to take F1 to its next locations. "I would like to see a race in Africa, somewhere we haven't been before," said Ecclestone. "The first discussions have already happened, and maybe one more race in the US, let's see." (GMM)