The Nurburgring circuit have confirmed that they have begun fresh negotiations with FOM chief Bernie Ecclestone over the future of their track on the calendar, as they seek a new deal for their proposed GP in 2013.
The Nurburgring currently enjoys a slot-share deal with the Hockenheim track, the two circuits sharing responsibility for hosting the German Grand Prix.
However, the two seperate alternating contracts the tracks have with Ecclestone are not identical.
While Hockenheim is guaranteed a place on the calendar until 2016, the Nurburgring's deal expired with their race last season.
And with Hockenheim taking over hosting duties for 2012, the Nurburgring track has now begun negotiations with Ecclestone over a deal for 2013 and beyond.
"Negotiations with Bernie Ecclestone have already started and are ongoing for the 2013 race," Karl-Heinz Steinkuehler, a spokesman for the track, told the Reuters news agency.
"At the moment there is package that the operators look at positively. But it is also the state of Rhineland-Palatinate that needs to sign off as a partner for any deal."
The track has recently suffered financial difficulties, with circuit owners set to axe nearly 100 support jobs and moving to 'scale down' the track's theme park.
But despite suggestions that the financial issues facing the track might see it drop off the F1 schedule, Steinkuehler insisted that the circuit was set for a stable future.
"The operators have no problem and the season starting in April this year is fully guaranteed," he bragged happily.
"The cutbacks are necessary to meet the leasing costs."
He clarified that the lay-offs at the track would consist of 55 full-time employees being made redundant, while 37 contract-based workers would not have their positions renewed.
The Nurburgring track has been a long-time member of the F1 calendar, hosting the European Grand Prix for a number of years alongside Hockenheim's race.
From 2007, the track joined Hockenheim in their new slot-sharing scheme.
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