Nico Hulkenberg has lamented the apparent decline of the German grand prix.
Officially, the FIA has scheduled a race for mid July, but Bernie Ecclestone had made clear commercial talks with the Nurburgring or alternative venue Hockenheim were faltering.
Now, the 84-year-old F1 supremo has told The Independent: "The German grand prix is dead at the moment.
"As with any race, if it is cancelled it is cancelled. There’s not much we can do," F1 business journalist Christian Sylt quoted the diminutive Briton as saying.
If true, 2015 will be the first time in six decades that Germany has not hosted a round of motor racing’s ultimate category.
German driver Hulkenberg lamented the news.
"Without saying ’Scheisse’ (shit), it is a shame," he is quoted by the SID news agency.
"We have three German drivers (in F1), a German manufacturer, a lot of history."