Bernie Ecclestone says the German Grand Prix will not return to the Nurburgring in 2017.

The Nurburgring held a deal to alternate the hosting of the race with Hockenheim each year, but was unable to host this year's German Grand Prix due to financial issues. The 2016 race will be held at Hockenheim, but the chances of it returning to the Nurburgring in 2017 are look increasingly slim.

"I don't believe that it will happen," Ecclestone told Motorsport-Magazin. "We can say for sure, that there will be no race."

Ecclestone said he was willing to buy the Nurburgring to ensure its future, but the owners at the time opted for a higher bidder who was unable to resolve the circuit's financial problems.

"It's a pity, because when the Nurburgring was for sale, I agreed to buy it," he said. "They came back to me and told me that they had a better offer, maybe one or two million higher than my offer. I said: 'I made only one offer. If somebody wants to pay more, sell it to him.' They've sold it to a person and this person resold it.

"The stupidity was that because of two million they've lost somebody who had guaranteed that there would have been races for 100 years and who would have tried to improve things. They ran away for a few dollars more. And what did they achieve? It's disappointing and annoying for me. That's why we've lost the Nurburgring."