Canada dropped from the 2009 calendar

[Brogan]

What a terrible decision.
Canada out and Valencia in.

So now there is no race in North America at all.
That's not going to please BMW or Mercedes.

Also, Brazil is no longer the season finale.
The newest circuit on the calendar, Yas Island (Abu Dhabi) gets that honour.

The revised calendar is as follows:

1	2009 FORMULA 1 ING AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (Melbourne)			26 - 29 Mar

2	2009 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX (Kuala Lumpur) 		03 - 05 Apr

3	2009 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX (Bahrain) 			17 - 19 Apr

4	FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPANA TELEFONICA 2009 (Catalunya) 		08 - 10 May

5	FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2009 (Monte Carlo) 			21 - 24 May

6	2009 FORMULA 1 TURKISH GRAND PRIX (Istanbul) 				05 - 07 Jun

7	2009 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX (Silverstone) 		19 - 21 Jun

8	FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2009 (Magny-Cours) 			26 - 28 Jun

9	FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2009 (Nürburgring)	10 - 12 Jul

10	FORMULA 1 ING MAGYAR NAGYDIJ 2009 (Budapest) 				24 - 26 Jul

11	2009 FORMULA 1 TELEFONICA GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia) 		21 - 23 Aug

12	2009 FORMULA 1 ING BELGIAN GRAND PRIX (Spa-Francorchamps) 		28 - 30 Aug

13	FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA 2009 (Monza) 			11 - 13 Sep

14	2009 FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX (Singapore) 			25 - 27 Sep

15	2009 FORMULA 1 FUJI TELEVISION JAPANESE GRAND PRIX (Suzuka) 		09 - 11 Oct

16	2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX (Shanghai) 				16 - 18 Oct

17	FORMULA 1 GRANDE PREMIO DO BRASIL 2009 (Sao Paulo) 			30 - 01 Nov

18	2009 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX (Abu Dhabi) 		13 - 15 Nov

 

[teabagyokel]

Remember the highlights of the Canadian Grand Prix over the last 10 years? And they've all been dry! What other track has given us as much entertainment in the last 10 years of dry racing?

Sepang? Catalunya? Budapest? Istanbul? Sakhir? Monaco? Magny-Cours? Monza?

You have got to be kidding me!

Its another nail in the coffin of F1(sport) and another boost for F1(business). Well, have I got news for you, Bernie? If it isn't interesting then people will stop watching! What happened to your viewing figures in 2002, mate? What happened in 2004? If its too boring then there'll be NO money coming in! That's why F1 the business needs interesting tracks rather than decent seaside hospitality areas!

Canada has gone. Silverstone is going. Melbourne is having a disagreement with Bernie. Spa has been on and off the calendar for years. The exciting German tracks are now rotated. Suzuka has gone. Interlagos is knackered and is probably next in line. Is it just me or does Bernie have it in for racing? If Imola hadn't gone I'd be sure...

Oh and I just remembered...

Last 4 winners of Grand Prix du Canada
KUBICA, R (BMW)
HAMILTON, L (McLaren)
ALONSO, F (Renault)
RAIKKONEN, K (McLaren)

And which team is missing? Let the conspiracy theories continue!

 

[Brogan]

News emerges as to why Canada was dropped.

"It was voted on by the FIA and that's really the end of it," Roger Peart, a Canadian FIA official told the Montreal Gazette. "It's a done deal. It's sad news for Montreal. It's sad for racing in Canada but I don't think anyone can do anything about it."

Peart, who designed the original track on the Ile de Notre Dame, said that the problem was entirely commercial.

Or to put it another way, Canada did not pay.

The Canadian deal is believed to cost about $20m a year.

It is reckoned that the local economy gets a $100m boost each year when F1 comes to town.

So it begs the question.
If it costs $20m to host the GP and the local economy makes $100m from the GP, why didn't the City Council pay?

More here: http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns20846.html

 

[Amdathlonuk]

Seriously, can a weekend's racing generate $100m??....... if it did then the decision doesn't even need deciding in my book. I've done the sums in my head and even I can work out there's profit there.

I'm thinking of building an F1 circuit in Abergavenny, anyone want to pitch in.... I've got £2.78 to start?

 

[slickskid]

I'd Hazard a guess and say the $100 million doesn't actually go to the council, more generating in tourisum to the area which benifits local businesses.

Still i'm pretty hacked off Canda is gone, was one of the few races i looked forward to for unpradictability and garunteed to provide some excitement!

I agree with teabag it's been turned into a business not a sport by the powers that be.... money pilfering bar stewards!!

 

[Brogan]

So the real news finally starts to come out...

The round was dropped from the 2009 calendar earlier this month under claims that it had not paid between $10 and $20 million of its contractual obligations in the last two years.

Bosses of the race denied that they had defaulted on payments, but admitted there was a commercial disagreement over the fee for the 2008 race and signalled their intention to hold negotiations to reinstate the race.

More here: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71639

 

[wittyc]

I read somewhere that the Mayor of Montreal had a meeting with Bernie last week, to see if they could get the race back on. Perhaps it will as France have pulled out of 2009.