...Its going to cost millions in lost revenue.Roughly 80M$. :(
See link below: "What may eventually save the race is a contract, signed by the city and the promoter with F1 which keeps the race in Montreal up until 2011. Breaching that contract could cost the F1 or FIA a lot of money if Canada's Grand Prix team lawyers up. Whether or not they will be successful in keeping the race in Montreal reains to be seen but they better hope it does otherwise it may be some time before we see another Grand-Prix race here in Montreal and the city, its merchants, restaurants, bars, and strippers can't afford to lose that kind of revenue." http://bleacherreport.com/articles/65993-abu-dhabi-blows-by-montreal-fia-dumps-the-canadian-grand-prix/
Have you been following the financial crisis lately, it has effected Asia as well, Chinese real estate bubble is just beginning, Japanese stock market is suffering. I am not a fan of the new tracks with the exception of Turkey, we have lost Imola, Suzuka, Silverstone and now Montreal with Spa seeming to be at risk every year. Fuji, Singapore, Valencia and Bahrain tracks are barely watchable on television imho, let alone spending a fortune to travel and watch live. I will miss Montreal, I had attended the race 14 times, the city and people were always fantastic. Looks like I am going to have to start saving those pennies to get back to Monza or catch Spa before these two idiots ruin it all. I believe the attendance for Montreal was in the top 3 races for the last several years. Combine this with the interesting enforcement of the rules and Nazi hooker scandals, way to go Bernie and Max, you continue to kill the golden goose, slowly but surely....
What is even more disturbign is the "equalizing" engine performance, and other cost savings coming. If F1 no longer represents manufacturers competing through technology....then it is dead.
i think it's really stupid. Canada always provides one of the best races every season. and like someone said, compare to Valencia and Barcelona, both are really useless and boring tracks.
...just kidding, but we have to blame SOMEONE for this scheduling train wreck. It WILL be fun to see arial shots of a Russian GP with 100's of mafiosi black hummers, phantoms and maybachs in the parking lot... oh, and don't forget a tank or 10!
I just spotted this story on ESPN's front page so you know it's big news in North America. I can't believe they canceled it, I always enjoyed watching this race. I have to admit my interest in F1 has declined over the past few races with all the BS that's beeing going on in the 'sport' and this certainly doesn't help for my interest in next year.
Yet another stupid decision made by the FIA. You have North America as one of the biggest, if not the biggest, purchaser of alot of these manufacturer's vehicles, yet there is not noe Noth American race now. Abu Dahbi must have thrown a boatload of money at Ecclestone to get him to nix the Canadian GP and give them the race. Truly Disgusted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm going to remain optimistic this is just a political ploy by Bernie and fiends. They just want more money.
+100 I couldn't agree with your comment any better. I still can't believe that we've lost Imola and Suzuka, two of the BEST CIRCUITS ON THE PLANET! The exclusions of those two races just proves that the entire series is headed straight for the toilet. How can they mess with the basic fundamentals of racing?? Such as; slowly eliminate great venues (Spa, Imola, etc.) , and alienate the hardcore fans of these countries, which have hosted a race for decades. These "billionaire" tracks such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, China, are all short-term investments, and flash-in-the-pan venues. There is no history of racing there, and I seriously doubt that any history will be made there in the future. Max n' Bernie are throwing away the bread, to get the butter....................bad idea.
I sincerely hope this is an extravagant bluff. It's no secret that the FIA, and more importantly the drivers themselves, were less than impressed with the track surfaces. I walked the entire course post-race this year, and to call the conditions world class would be absurd. I just hope our receding gov't can realize the revenue losses and weigh it against the maintenance costs and make the event right, the way it is in just about every aspect. If it's purely world-marketing and buy-outs, it's seriously a sad state of affairs that see's my initial reaction bordering on utter BOYCOTT! -Matt.
I just hope Bernie & Max are still around when F1 is no longer the flavor of the week in the emerging markets and they have to come crawling back to Europe and N. America to sustain their sport.
Guy's, this is just some more games from Bernie, its him showing his political muscles, again ! He has been doing this for years with many tracks around the world! He must be wanting more money for the renewing of the Canadian contract, which will be in discussion very soon! F1 needs north America, more for the sponsorship then the car sales, but it needs it all the same, and all the teams agree with that !!
I think the writing was on the wall: With the USGP gone, the costs for a trans Atlantic fly away race just got too high. Add to that the breaking up tarmac at this year's race and the pressure to keep the total number of races below 20 (add Abu Dhabi) and it wasn't so far fetched. Granted I would have expected the Hungarian GP to go first, but so it is. Here is hoping to a return of the USGP in 2010 and with it the Canadian GP. Meanwhile I'm happy I went to the Canadian GP this year while it existed.
Another GP that seems to guarantee an exciting race scrapped from the calendar. Such a pity. I see myself leaning more and more towards the endurance series of (A)LMS. It simply provides way more racing and excitement than the F1 GP's from these days. The sport is going downhill and you know it is when you hear people suggesting that it would be a good thing to offer the fastest driver on friday a milion dollars. It is getting borderline pathetic.
If you look at the trend of new venues, they are starting to resemble those of A1GP, Pinnacle of motorsports, NOT!
