Canadian Grand Prix AXED from 2009

DaveEllis Wrote:
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> no sorry, F1 needs the American market.
>
> It really doesn't. Think about the word "need"
> there.


F1 doesnt need it. Toyota, BMW and Honda need america.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

And also, America doesn't really want F1 either. I've never seen a packed Indy in all the years we've been there.

Indy would never ever be packed, even if it was sat in the Monaco harbour. Capacity for the Indy 500 is 400,000, 250,000 of which is in the grandstands along the S/F straight. You might get those 250,000 in if you're optimistic, in a perfect location, but that's about it.

Keep in mind America is big. There's a huge population to pull from, but I'm in no hurry to travel to Budapest to watch a GP.

Toyota, BMW and Honda need america.

Toyota is currently competing (and doing very well in) the biggest motorsport in America - NASCAR. Toyota needs to do well in F1 for its Japanese sales, more than its America ones. Its NASCAR runs will do more for it in the US than anything F1 could ever do.

Honda currently supplies engines for the second biggest motorsport in America - the Indy Racing League.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
theRacingLine.net
SportsCarArchives.com

The biggest market for toyota is middle east, even bigger than europe

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So commercial speaking, nobody gives a damn. Only the fans do, and why should anybody pay attention to the fans?

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Some say... he's even smaller than 20kb.
And some say... he's so offensive he could get you into trouble...
The only thing we know is that he's called...

THE SIG


Felipe Massa, World Champion 15:34:11pm- 15:34:21pm.

There we go. The expected reason:

[f1.gpupdate.net]

Brilliant, roll on Formula Tilke where drivers compete for the far-east...I mean world championship in the 'pinnacle' of motorsport...

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Dunno if it's been posted; there is a four week(!) summer break in 2009 F1 calendar.
Whoa, talk about taking time out ...

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GPGSL career;
Current team: Team ShadowSubaru, Previous teams: MPR, Minardi
starts:100 Wins: 12, Podiums: 34, Fastest Laps: 14, poles: 12 Points: 708
winner of Belgian GP (s1), Australian GP (s1), Canadian GP (S1), Brazilian GP(s4, s5), Hungarian GP(s3), Italian GP(s3), French GP (s5,s7), Monaco GP (s4) and USA GP



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/2008 11:32PM by BAR#10.

Yeah, there's been a summer break of some kind every season since 2001. This one will be the longest yet.

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yes, the teams may have shot themselves in the foot in that respect

they complained that there was no summer break for workers, but now they wan't the canadian GP back as well...

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X (@ed24f1)

The Canada question was brought up in the press conference for Japan. The team bosses don´t seem too happy about it.

Mario Theissen: Obviously we are not happy about not being in North America. The US is the most important and biggest car market for BMW and I think for the industry as a whole. It has always been difficult to set foot into the US but Canada has always been a very strong Formula One supporter and the race in Montreal. I have seen the race in Montreal as an operational base to get a second race up and running in the US, and so we would, rather than drop the Canada race, use it or expand the operations in North America to have a Canadian plus at least one US race.

John Howett: We are sad because it’s a great race, we like to go there. I think one of the targets of FOTA is to actually ask the commercial rights holder to really establish a strong foothold in North America, particularly the US, with a race which showcases Formula One well, and is, if you like, economically beneficial to Formula One as a whole. So I think this is one of the core discussions FOTA wishes to have because it is a very important market for our sponsors and for Formula One and hopefully in the next one to two years we can establish a proper race in the United States which is good for all of us.

Nick Fry: We are hugely disappointed – it’s difficult to emphasise by how much. Honda is very successful in Canada, we make cars there, the local company there is hugely enthusiastic about Formula One. We have large numbers of guests from America and from Canada. We sponsor the event, we would like to see it back on the calendar as soon as possible and I support John’s comments that I think it will be a major topic of conversation among the teams at the next meeting of the teams. I think we need to look at North America on a more strategic basis. As soon as we were down to one race on the continent, things inevitably were going to get difficult because the costs of transportation and appearing just once across the other side of the Atlantic were huge and I think really we need to look at how we’re not just going to get back Canada but how we get back to America, potentially more than once, as it is such an important market.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2008 07:50PM by airefresco.

according to f1-live a multi-million dollar sum was owed to FOM, which no doubt contributed to the decision

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X (@ed24f1)

F1 is moving to these remote locations because they're willing to pay Bernie what he wants as they can bleed money without worrying in the mid-term future, whereas elsewhere Bernie's "F1 economic model" is barely feasible in the top venues like Spa or Monza.

MOntreal is just the beginning. Next will be Spa, then Monza. The only thing saving Monaco is it's prestige faactor.

I really wish Bernie would retire. I mean he has more money than Midas, more than he could spend in 20 lifetimes. When will this man be satiated in his lust for coin?



"There are some pikeys there at Turn 10 putting tarmac down - what do you think of that?" - Martin Brundle

SO who said F1 didnt need North America?

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2013 - Nando must come through..

well, this Friday(17) in Shanghai Bernie said for ppl to not create any hopes after French Gp's retirement because Canada definitely won't be in the calendar for 2009, the teams will have 17 races as they wanted (in his words), also he told the calendar will have a little change again and that's it for next year



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2008 04:29AM by Rodrigo007.

Sapo Wrote:
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> and why should anybody pay attention
> to the fans?
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When has F1 or motorsport in general been "about the fans"?

Do you think that in 19...what ever it was at the inaugural French Grand Prix the competitors were milling around going "Well we need standardised engines and lower costs, because after all! We wouldn't be here if wasn't for the fans."

F1 has never been about the fans, it isn't there because of the fans either, it's there for the manufacturers who use it partly as a base for technology but primarily as a marketing exercise which stretches well beyond the supposed fan base.

there's another revision of the calendar now - China moving to 3rd with the end of the season being pulled back a few weeks

2009 FIA Formula One World Championship

29/3 Australia
5/4 Malaysia
19/4 China
26/4 Bahrain
10/5 Spain
24/5 Monaco
7/6 Turkey
21/6 Great Britain
12/7 Germany
26/7 Hungary
23/8 Europe (Valencia)
30/8 Belgium
13/9 Italy
27/9 Singapore
4/10 Japan
18/10 Brazil
1/11 Abu Dhabi


unfortunately, there's not much room for Canada to slot in now, unless they take away the mid-season break, or put it with only a one week gap to a european race, which could cause some logistical pressures. maybe a canada/usa double for 2010 will be the best option now, unless they are to re-shuffle the calendar again...

on the positive side, at least we've got rid of that three week break between bahrain and spain.

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X (@ed24f1)