F1: Canadian GP Dropped from 2009 Calendar

[The Boston Dangler]

Text

The Canadian Grand Prix, staged at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal since the late 1970s, has been left off the latest F1 calendar.

After a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council on Tuesday, the sport's governing body issued an amended 18-race calendar, omitting the race previously scheduled for June 7.

Instead, the Turkish Grand Prix has been moved from August 9 to June, creating an August summer break.

Another significant development to come from the "Extraordinary Meeting" is to allow "teams to equalize engine performance across the field for 2009, pending the introduction of cost-saving measures from 2010".

Meanwhile, in the FIA's row with the German racing federation ADAC, the FIA vowed to ensure that the associated authority DMSB "is truly independent of the ADAC and capable of running the sporting power in the country."

FIA president Max Mosley was also given authority to negotiate with the F1 teams' alliance FOTA and
introduce "radical measures to achieve a substantial reduction of costs in the championship from 2010."

And in a Formula 2 development, the top three drivers in the new low-cost feeder series "will qualify for an FIA Superlicense", the Paris based body said in a statement.

2009 Formula 1 calendar:

Australia, March 29
Malaysia, April 5
Bahrain, April 19
Spain, May 10
Monaco, May 24
Turkey, June 7
Great Britain, June 21
France, June 28
Germany, July 12
Hungary, July 26
Europe (Valencia), August 23
Belgium, August 30
Italy, September 13
Singapore, September 27
Japan, October 11
China, October 18
Brazil, November 1
Abu Dhabi, November 15

Canadian organisers were not informed of decision

In a surprising statement issued by the organisers of the Canadian Grand Prix, it was revealed that no news of plans to axe North America's single Formula One event had reached them prior to its announcement.

The Canadian GP was removed from the 2009 calendar by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council earlier today, with no explanations given.

"The organisers of the Canadian Grand Prix have learned through the media of the Canadian Grand Prix's removal from the 2009 Formula One championship calendar," the two-paragraph French-language statement reads.

"Consequently, no comments will be issued before speaking with the interested parties, Formula One Management (FOM) and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)."

The news hit Montreal like a storm, provoking strong reactions among fans towards the FIA, which is accused of showing disrespect towards the long-standing event.
The race has taken place on the famous circuit Gilles-Villeneuve every year since 1987.

In an interview with Radio-Canada, Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay spoke of an important loss of 75 million dollars for the local economy, adding that he was going to contact Canadian GP promoter Normand Legault to "see what we can do."

In 2006, Legault stated that an agreement maintaining the Canadian round of the championship until 2011 had been reached with Bernie Ecclestone.

this is complete bs. bernie continues to screw fans, teams and sponsors in order to fill his pockets with arabian and pacific rim gold. everyone involved wants to race in the us, and now we lose canada too. 2010 will see races in india and south korea, with russia to follow. i'm afraid it doesn't look good for australia. you would think maybe turkey or hungary would go, but bernie owns at least one of those tracks. american and european le mans series look better all the time...

 

[dug777]

que?

*gallic shrug*

 

[sdifox]

There is no money left in North America
Big money sponsors like the tobacco company can't sponsor "sporting" events any more so kindda hard for them to find sponsors.
Not that inhaling all that gasified vulcanised rubber, not to mention the exhaust, is any healthier than cigs anyway.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Edit:
n/m, missed Brazil

 

[DivideBYZero]

More money in Abu Dhabi than Canada.

 

[RbSX]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
More money in Abu Dhabi than Canada.

More money in Canada than..

Australia
Malaysia
Monaco
Bahrain
Hungary

 

[OdiN]

Who wants an F1 calendar anyway?

I'd rather have a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit one.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: RyanSengara

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
More money in Abu Dhabi than Canada.

More money in Canada than..

Australia
Malaysia
Monaco
Bahrain
Hungary

The difference being that people in those countries WORSHIP F1. F1 pulled out of the US because nobody cared. Between NASCAR and Indy they were just a circus that rolled through town, not a rock concert. Canada should've seen the writing on the wall.

 

[LTC8K6]

With only 6 cars on the track, why should we care anymore...

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth

Originally posted by: RyanSengara

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
More money in Abu Dhabi than Canada.

More money in Canada than..

Australia
Malaysia
Monaco
Bahrain
Hungary

The difference being that people in those countries WORSHIP F1. F1 pulled out of the US because nobody cared. Between NASCAR and Indy they were just a circus that rolled through town, not a rock concert. Canada should've seen the writing on the wall.

The Montreal GP drew 300,000 people last year. They don't have a problem selling out the event.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: BeauJangles

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth

Originally posted by: RyanSengara

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
More money in Abu Dhabi than Canada.

More money in Canada than..

Australia
Malaysia
Monaco
Bahrain
Hungary

The difference being that people in those countries WORSHIP F1. F1 pulled out of the US because nobody cared. Between NASCAR and Indy they were just a circus that rolled through town, not a rock concert. Canada should've seen the writing on the wall.

The Montreal GP drew 300,000 people last year. They don't have a problem selling out the event.

Exactly. I don't understand why Canada was axed from the calendar. Maybe because of the condition of the track? The last couple years the drivers have been complaining that the track tends to break up as the race progresses especially at the hairpin.

Still, that track usually offers some great racing.

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: BeauJangles

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth

Originally posted by: RyanSengara

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
More money in Abu Dhabi than Canada.

More money in Canada than..

Australia
Malaysia
Monaco
Bahrain
Hungary

The difference being that people in those countries WORSHIP F1. F1 pulled out of the US because nobody cared. Between NASCAR and Indy they were just a circus that rolled through town, not a rock concert. Canada should've seen the writing on the wall.

The Montreal GP drew 300,000 people last year. They don't have a problem selling out the event.

Exactly. I don't understand why Canada was axed from the calendar. Maybe because of the condition of the track? The last couple years the drivers have been complaining that the track tends to break up as the race progresses especially at the hairpin.

Still, that track usually offers some great racing.

They've had some issues at the hairpin, but there's no way that can be the reason. The track last year was in pretty good shape all day, though they had to make spot repairs in between a few of the races.

Montreal (both the city and the commercial ventures in it) is willing to pony up nearly any sum of money and do anything F1 wants. They already dumped a quarter million dollars into improving the track and to have the race taken away from them (even though there was a contract!) is bullshit.

I know F1 has a huge following in other countries, but Montreal was THE event for anybody who liked racing in North America. It was like going on the Hajj for race fans.

I'm really glad I went last year. I got some great seats (the hairpin was right in front of me) and I, evidently, got to see the last F1 race in North America.

 

[BeauJangles]

RIP Montreal GP:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

edit: damn Fusetalk sucks.

 

[LTC8K6]

Wasn't the track in very poor shape for the race this year? I remember thinking that the race organizers might be in trouble for the condition of the track. It kept breaking up in places.

 

[LTC8K6]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/68079

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/68125

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/68095

 

[The Boston Dangler]

F1 series in doubt beyond 2009 - Mosley

''Some of the manufacturers are already having difficulty''

"We can survive through 2009, but I'm not too sure about after," Mosley said.



good. fuck bernie. he's ruined the sport, and keeps making it worse. the drivers, teams, and fans should move on without Formula One Management, maybe without the FIA. the ACO, as a sanctioning body, is years ahead of the FIA anyway.

 

[foghorn67]

F1 needs a serious work over for it to survive.

 

[Spicedaddy]

The promoters said today that they were done, as a company it's not viable for them to continue organizing the event...

In other words, Bernie's asking for too much money, so the only solution would be for the city/governments to organize it and lose money doing it. It's ridiculous, the same thing happened 2 years ago, and the contract signed at the time was good until 2011. But Bernie changed his mind.


And for those comparing it to the US GP, they're really not the same. Montreal's GP is typically sold out all 3 days, and brings many tourists from all over America.


Oh well, Montreal's winning the Stanley Cup this year, so at least we'll get hockey late into the summer!

 

[sandorski]

Haha foolish fool. Just gave us the extra Fuel needed to fill up the Tank and rampage across Europe! Soon all F1 races will be in Canada!!

 

[compman25]

Originally posted by: sandorski
Haha foolish fool. Just gave us the extra Fuel needed to fill up the Tank and rampage across Europe! Soon all F1 races will be in Canada!!

Have another drink or three.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: compman25

Originally posted by: sandorski
Haha foolish fool. Just gave us the extra Fuel needed to fill up the Tank and rampage across Europe! Soon all F1 races will be in Canada!!

Have another drink or three.

Sure, once the Territory of France and Germany is within the Dominion, I'll have even more!!

 

[Demon-Xanth]

http://jalopnik.com/5064370/20...neyland-paris-for-2010

France gets dropped from 2009 as well.