Hockenheim has approached Formula 1 about the idea of resurrecting the German Grand Prix.

The venue, which hosted F1 races on and off from the 1970s until its most recent race in 2019, came under the control of new investors in 2024, with an expansion of the track's facilities now on the cards.

The emodrom group, which holds 74.99% of the shares in Hockenheim, has earmarked €250million of investment to expand its Porsche Experience Centre, plus construct a new hotel and what it calls a 'Motorworld' facility.

Some consideration has been given to attracting F1 back, with its last event there having been won by Max Verstappen.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has acknowledged those talks but said that, with other countries ready to pay high hosting fees, Hockenheim's chiefs know well the cost needed to secure a spot on the calendar.

"It was Hockenheim that connected with us, and they had the first discussion," he said.

"As you know, they are developing the motorsport park there with a different objective.

"If they want to discuss a possible F1 event, of course the investment needs to be different - because our platform needs to have a different kind of investment. But we have discussed that."

F1's new market plans

While F1's trend over recent years has been away from European races, Domenicali has hinted that the continent could become increasingly important again based on fan interest - which could boost the hopes of venues such as Hockenheim.

"We are watching, of course, the growth of the United States," he said. "We are watching the growth of Europe, because it's becoming an important market again, because the growth, the numbers, are there."

But Europe faces major competition, with Domenicali saying there are a queue of other candidates in the mix. Races on the African continent, Asia and South America are all possibilities when future slots in the schedule allow.

In terms of specific countries in Africa, Rwanda and South Africa have expressed interest, while on the Asian side, Thailand, South Korea and second races in China and Japan are options.

In South America, Argentina is a logical place for an F1 return based on the interest fuelled by Franco Colapinto.

Domenicali said that "negotiations are progressing very well in Africa" but there seems to be no rush to get things over the line, with F1's schedule quite well-sorted in the short term.

He did, in particular, feel that it is too early for an extra event in China.

"We have more requests in China and Japan," he said. "But for the moment, we want to stay with one race in China because we need to consolidate the market stronger, before thinking to have another option there."

The naming issue

One intriguing aspect of Malaysia's surprise return to the F1 calendar this year is that it is taking place under the moniker of the 'Bahrain Grand Prix'.

That has happened because Bahrain has helped fund the Sepang race as it is unable to hold its own race at Sakhir because of ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

The 'Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia' solution is an unusual one and has prompted some questions about whether such arrangements could be repeated in the future - but Domenicali made it clear he is not keen on this.

"I don't think that this could be a long-term approach because we need to be credible and consistent," he said.

"But I really hope that the situation of the world would allow us to go back to a normal situation with the right country in which we would like to hold the grand prix.

"What we did with Bahrain and Malaysia was fantastic because we really wanted to allow the Bahrain Grand Prix to be part of [the schedule]."