Formula 1: Hockenheimring to return to 2019 schedule after all

The Hockenheimring is set to host the German Grand Prix in the 2019 Formula 1 season ever after it was believed to be off the schedule.

In late June, it was announced that the Hockenheimring, which hosted this season’s German Grand Prix, would not be returning as a venue on the 2019 Formula 1 schedule.

This announcement made sense seeing as how the 17-turn, 2.842-mile (4.574-kilometer) road course in Am Motodrom, Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany has not hosted Formula 1 races in two consecutive seasons since the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

Since the 2006 season, the track has hosted one Formula 1 race in every even year. The most recent race held at the track in an odd year took place back in 2005 and was won by Fernando Alonso, who went on to win the first of his two Formula 1 championships that year.

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However, despite the initial reports that the Hockenheimring would not be returning to the schedule to play host to the German Grand Prix in the 2019 season, it has now been revealed that the track will, in fact, return to the schedule next year.

A contract between Liberty Media and the Hockenheimring has not yet been signed, but it is believed that the signing of the contract is only a formality at this point with an agreement having been reached.

This new contract is set to be a one-year deal that will give both Liberty Media and the Hockenheimring plenty of time to discuss a potential five-year contract that would bring the race back to the schedule once again in the 2020 season and keep it there through at least the 2024 season.

The last time the German Grand Prix was held at the Hockenheimring in consecutive seasons, it was held at the track for 21 consecutive seasons, as it took place there in each season from 1986 to 2006.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton won this year’s German Grand Prix in Mercedes’ home race in dramatic fashion after starting in 14th place, making him the lowest starting winner of a Formula 1 race since Fernando Alonso won the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix after starting in 15th.

The race is also the home race of Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton’s chief championship rival. The 31-year-old German had a commanding lead in the race with 16 laps to go, but with rain beginning to fall, he slid off the track in turn 12 and hit the barrier, bringing his race to an end and dashing his championship hopes severely to the ire of the crowd.

Hamilton is now a four-time winner of the German Grand Prix and a three-time winner of the race at the Hockenheimring. Heading into this year’s race, he had also won the most recent German Grand Prix, which was held at the track two years ago.

Are you excited that the Hockenheimring is set to return to the Formula 1 schedule next season after all and that next year’s German Grand Prix is set to be the first race at the track in an odd year in nearly a decade and a half?