FIA drops Canadian GP from F1 calendar for 2009

[loplop]

I know there are a few F1 fans on the board here other than myself. When I saw this today, It really pissed me off . . . .

PARIS (AP) The Canadian Grand Prix was dropped from the 2009 calendar on Tuesday, leaving North America without a Formula One race.

Governing body FIA ratified its calendar for the coming season and omitted the Canadian GP, which was first held in 1967. It's the first time since 1987 that the Canadian GP won't be on the F1 schedule.

The inaugural Abu Dhabi GP replaces the Canadian race for 2009, which will feature 18 races, the same as this year.

Contractual problems between Circuit Gilles Villeneuve officials, and commercial rights holder F1 management are believed to have contributed to the decision.

The Canadian race was left off the calendar 21 years ago because of a dispute between local organizers and the F1 over sponsorship. The United States GP was dropped from the F1 schedule last year.

The Turkish GP, originally scheduled to be raced in August, takes the Montreal spot on June 7. That leaves a four-week break between the Hungarian GP on July 26 and the European GP on Aug. 23 at Valencia, Spain.

I've driven the 500 miles to the race the last couple years with the US race off the schedule, but this is nuts . . . .

[Sushikins]

I meant to go to the Indy race a few years back, but with the debacle that happened, it got taken off the schedule and I never got to go. I have a hard time following F1 now that I don't get the channel most races air on, and the races mostly taking place when I'm sleeping.

[HSaabedra]

I know there are a few F1 fans on the board here other than myself. When I saw this today, It really pissed me off . . . .

I've driven the 500 miles to the race the last couple years with the US race off the schedule, but this is nuts . . . .

Bernie's moving away from the conventional sponsor driven races to government backed ones (Singapore, Korea, Abu Dhabi, Zhuhai), and its driving a lot of people away. The teams are already considering a split from the FIA because of costs and the fact that the US doesn't have a GP, which the auto manufacturers are lobbying for.

I'm not surprised this happened, but Bernie and Max want to take F1 away because of the fact that a lot of billionaires in Europe and the US are calling in their investment in the sport and they promised returns that are impossible.

[Ikari Warrior]

could this lead to the formation of a US F1? Some manner of American racing that ISN'T NASCAR? That'd sure be nice...

[Sushikins]

could this lead to the formation of a US F1? Some manner of American racing that ISN'T NASCAR? That'd sure be nice...

Indeed, I like IRL, but it needs less Oval courses. Ovals are fine for a few races (especially Indy), but I find road courses to be far more exciting to watch.

[HSaabedra]

could this lead to the formation of a US F1? Some manner of American racing that ISN'T NASCAR? That'd sure be nice...

The US used to have its own form of F1. It was called CART (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champ_Car) or Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc.

The company would have team owners that owned franchise teams and a Board of Directors with a President of Operations. You had chassis from March, Swift, Lola, and Reynard with turbocharged V8 engines from Mercedes-Benz (through the Illmor engineering concern), Ford (through the Cosworth British engineering concern), Toyota, and Honda.

The cars had full ground effects with no traction control and made more than 1100 horsepower in qualifying trim with 900+ horsepower on raceday while the racing consisted of a mixture between ovals, temporary street circuits, and natural terrain road courses. Some cars even set the world speed record for total miles per hour achieved in a closed circuit (251.988 mph at California Speedway in 1999 set by Gil DeFerran driving for Marlboro Team Penske).

Their trophy was a replica of the Vanderbilt Cup commissioned by the aforementioned family, and it died in 2002 to be reborn again as the Champ Car World Series, which folded into the Indy Racing League this year, effectively ending what is known by fans as "The Split".

The IRL can DIAF for all I care and Paul Newman felt the same way I did before he died.

[f2akid]

I am somewhat surprised by this decision. You would think even though the FIA are money oriented they would show a little pride and tradition by maintaining the only North American race track in the schedule and keep the sport global.

There are a few tracks I can think of that could/should have gone instead of Canada; something like say Valencia. But again, it's down to money.

[Caster13]

Shadowcast I very much agree with you. But most of America knows very little about any type of racing besides rice rockets, drag racing, the occasional Ferrari street race seen on the local news and of course NASCAR, which I like to call Redneck Derby.

WTF is the FIA thinking these days!? first they take away traction control, and then they reduce down force. Both have made the sport evolve tremendously over the years. A couple of years ago they got rid of V10s. Max Mosely has taken his views out of the bedroom and is actually becoming like Hitler.

I know they want to make the sport more competitive, but this year has been full of excitement as it is. Seriously, a Red Bull team won at Monza. RED BULL. There's plenty of action going on this season. You don't need to try to make it more competitive by de-evolving the whole thing.

[loplop]

Bernie's moving away from the conventional sponsor driven races to government backed ones (Singapore, Korea, Abu Dhabi, Zhuhai), and its driving a lot of people away. The teams are already considering a split from the FIA because of costs and the fact that the US doesn't have a GP, which the auto manufacturers are lobbying for.

I'm not surprised this happened, but Bernie and Max want to take F1 away because of the fact that a lot of billionaires in Europe and the US are calling in their investment in the sport and they promised returns that are impossible.

I would welcome it, especially with me being a Tifosi. A recent poll on about.com had 73% of it's responders say that F1 would fail if Ferrari were to pull and and another poll recently on Racer.com said about the same thing if Ferrari, BMW, and Honda were to pull out. I think it's time for major changes and not Max's idea of IRL like cars proposed for the 2011 - 2012 seasons . . . .

[HSaabedra]

Shadowcast I very much agree with you. But most of America knows very little about any type of racing besides rice rockets, drag racing, the occasional Ferrari street race seen on the local news and of course NASCAR, which I like to call Redneck Derby.

The reason people don't pay attention is because its pointless to market to the masses. NASCAR won because of the CART/IRL split and they negotiated a contract on major network TV in 2000.

WTF is the FIA thinking these days!? first they take away traction control, and then they reduce down force. Both have made the sport evolve tremendously over the years. A couple of years ago they got rid of V10s. Max Mosely has taken his views out of the bedroom and is actually becoming like Hitler.

Traction control=bad
Less downforce=good

Look at an IRL oval race and tell me that all that downforce is a good thing.

I know they want to make the sport more competitive, but this year has been full of excitement as it is. Seriously, a Red Bull team won at Monza. RED BULL. There's plenty of action going on this season. You don't need to try to make it more competitive by de-evolving the whole thing.

The sport is unsustainable as it is and they can't maintain the aspirational image they fabricated in the beginning of the decade. Also, Toro Rosso=/=Red Bull, otherwise I'd be happy that Sebastian Bourdais is winning and not Vettel.

[HSaabedra]

I would welcome it, especially with me being a Tifosi. A recent roll on about.com had 73% of it's responders say that F1 would fail if Ferrari were to pull and and another poll recently on Racer.com said about the same thing if Ferrari, BMW, and Honda were to pull out. I think it's time for major changes and not Max's idea of IRL like cars proposed for the 2011 - 2012 seasons . . . .

Awesome, another reader. :)

Max is in bed with lil George and its bearing rotten fruit. First Champ Car dies because of Tony's piss poor atittude that he should be in control of American Open-Wheel, and now Max is pushing for a spec series.

I really wish Ferrari had pulled out of F1 and gone to CART in the 80's, but that ***** Balestre caved and gave Enzo his rules.

[Caster13]

I know it was Torro Rosso. I said Red Bull because it's A. easier for other people on this forum who might read this thread to make a connection, and B. because that's what Torro Rosso means and they're like a partner team.

EDIT: Ferrari never won the Indy 500. They've tried but they always had really bad luck.

I would welcome it, especially with me being a Tifosi.

Alright!!! That makes three on these boards!!:w00t:(the other one I can't remember his name)

[f2akid]

Alright!!! That makes three on these boards!!:w00t:(the other one I can't remember his name)

I think you're looking for a guy who goes by the name of Grizzbob. Just three, no more.

[Caster13]

Well I'm just glad I'm not alone here in my love for those cars.^_^ But when it comes to the extension of it, I'm not sure on that one.:unsure:-_-;

[loplop]

Awesome, another reader. :)

Max is in bed with lil George and its bearing rotten fruit. First Champ Car dies because of Tony's piss poor atittude that he should be in control of American Open-Wheel, and now Max is pushing for a spec series.

I really wish Ferrari had pulled out of F1 and gone to CART in the 80's, but that ***** Balestre caved and gave Enzo his rules.

The climate is a lot different now, and I think it could happen. They've been pissed for a while in Maranello after what happened last year with the USGP. After all, The US is Ferrari's largest overseas market. The same has been said of BMW. I know some of the crap with the USGP can be blamed on Tony George, But I could imagine a couple of suitable sites (Watkins Glen especially) in the US alone for a new series.

[Caster13]

But there's the subject of financial backing, and there isn't anyone in the US who would invest enough money to bring a GP back here. There's really not that big of a fanbase here for anything like that to happen.

This is why I'm one day going to Monza.

[HSaabedra]

The climate is a lot different now, and I think it could happen. They've been pissed for a while in Maranello after what happened last year with the USGP. After all, The US is Ferrari's largest overseas market. The same has been said of BMW. I know some of the crap with the USGP can be blamed on Tony George, But I could imagine a couple of suitable sites (Watkins Glen especially) in the US alone for a new series.

The problem then becomes if Luca and the rest of the manufacturers can work with the SCCA/ACCUS reps to get something going. If you remember, Eddie Jordan made a huge deal about breaking away and nothing happened.

My hope is that they can actually get something done and have races that are fun to watch. It's become solely about the car and not the driver in F1 and it shows.

[Caster13]

That's why the FIA is making some things (somewhat) standardized. But they could have kept the downforce higher and just have a standard chassis like it is today and let the manufacturers make little changes here and there.

But actually I can definitely see a few people (particularly Ferrari, since the market here for them is very big) trying to promote F1 type racing in the U.S. And since you'd have some people like Ferrari and McLaren doing the promoting, there would be a WAY higher chance of the sport taking off.

[HSaabedra]

That's why the FIA is making some things (somewhat) standardized. But they could have kept the downforce higher and just have a standard chassis like it is today and let the manufacturers make little changes here and there.

The car is designed and built by the team (with special exceptions) and all parts manufacturing is done in house. There are no "standard chassis" or control parts save for the ECU and skid plate. Everything else is free rein.

The reason most would disagree with you on increasing downforce is a safety issue. By increasing downforce (and by extension, pitch sensitivity) you run the risk of the car becoming incredibly unstable and the lack of mechanical grip available on the current designs compounds the issue.

The fact that lowering downforce also increases overtaking is merely a bonus.

But actually I can definitely see a few people (particularly Ferrari, since the market here for them is very big) trying to promote F1 type racing in the U.S. And since you'd have some people like Ferrari and McLaren doing the promoting, there would be a WAY higher chance of the sport taking off.

The IRL is trying to regain marketshare but it pales in comparison to F1, when it used to be the other way around not too long ago. It will take work for them to get off the ground, if it ever does.

[HSaabedra]

Something to chew on:

F1 in Doubt Beyond 2009 Season (http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-series-in-doubt-beyond-09-mosley-says/)

Highlights:


Billionaires Fielding Smaller Teams At a Significant Loss
Manufacturers Seeing Decreased Return on Investment
Mosley to Meet With FOTA Regarding Cost Cutting Measures

[Caster13]

Something to chew on:

F1 in Doubt Beyond 2009 Season (http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-series-in-doubt-beyond-09-mosley-says/)

Highlights:


Billionaires Fielding Smaller Teams At a Significant Loss
Manufacturers Seeing Decreased Return on Investment
Mosley to Meet With FOTA Regarding Cost Cutting Measures


F***!!!!!:$%&#!: :$%&#!:

to make a quote: This sucks more than anything else has ever sucked before.

[f2akid]

Something to chew on:

F1 in Doubt Beyond 2009 Season (http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-series-in-doubt-beyond-09-mosley-says/)

Highlights:


Billionaires Fielding Smaller Teams At a Significant Loss
Manufacturers Seeing Decreased Return on Investment
Mosley to Meet With FOTA Regarding Cost Cutting Measures


That's the third article I've read today alone where some bozo is trying to get everyone riled up by predicting the sport might not exist in 2-4 years time, if things carry on as they are. But they don't place enough emphasis on the 'if things continue as they are' i.e. the global crunch, there's not enough elaboration; just cheap shock tactics.

I'm no expert with finance but it's pretty clear to me good news is no news for these journalists.

[Caster13]

I know that this year Ferrari might lose the constructors title if there's another bad race. Massa doesn't look like he can pull the driver's title off either. Dammit!!

Oh well, we still hold every record there is in the sport.

[HSaabedra]

That's the third article I've read today alone where some bozo is trying to get everyone riled up by predicting the sport might not exist in 2-4 years time, if things carry on as they are. But they don't place enough emphasis on the 'if things continue as they are' i.e. the global crunch, there's not enough elaboration; just cheap shock tactics.

I'm no expert with finance but it's pretty clear to me good news is no news for these journalists.

The thing about this is, the spiral started in 2003 and its getting worse, not better.

[f2akid]

The thing about this is, the spiral started in 2003 and its getting worse, not better.

The same can be said for the other sports 'in doubt beyond 2010 (or whatever year)' so there's literally no point singling out F1. Changes can and will be made when they need to be. Like I said - good news is no news for these journalists.

[HSaabedra]

The same can be said for the other sports 'in doubt beyond 2010 (or whatever year)' so there's literally no point singling out F1. Changes can and will be made when they need to be. Like I said - good news is no news for these journalists.

Max is merely paying lip service to FOTA and that's what they're implying with all of the coverage. He's not going to force a damn thing and the status quo will remain unless all of the investors in the Group call in their investments at the same time, then you'll see stuff go down.