FIA drops Canadian GP; no F1 races in North America in '09
CBSSports.com wire reports
PARIS -- Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials insist that a world championship should include an American race. Or at least a North American race.
Formula One won't have either on the schedule next year.
On Tuesday, F1 announced it was dropping the Canadian Grand Prix from its 2009 schedule, possibly creating another barrier for the speedway to win back the United States Grand Prix -- the only American race held on the circuit this decade.
"We're certainly in a period, not only in the U.S. but worldwide, of economic concerns and that may have been a factor in this decision. It may make the hill a little steeper for us to climb," speedway spokesman Fred Nation said. "If you had one race in Canada, as well as one race in the U.S., you may have been able to save money from a travel standpoint."
It marks the first time since 1987 that the Canadian GP will not be on the schedule. The Canadian race, first held in 1967, also was left off the calendar 21 years ago because of a dispute between local organizers and F1 over sponsorship.
This time, contractual problems between Circuit Gilles Villeneuve officials and commercial rights holder F1 management are believed to have contributed to the decision, and the series will instead hold the inaugural Abu Dhabi GP next year.
Canadian GP officials said in a statement they learned of the news through the media.
"Consequently, we will not release any comment until we've spoken to the interested parties, both Formula One Management and the Federation International de l'Automobile," the statement said.
The 2009 schedule, which was ratified Tuesday, features 18 races, the same total as this year, but North America will not be represented.
Last year, F1 dropped the USGP from the schedule when IRL founder Tony George and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone could not agree on an extension to keep the race in Indianapolis. Since then, there have been persistent rumors Ecclestone has been looking at other American venues, such as New York or Las Vegas.
But the speedway, which added the first motorcycle race in nearly a century to this year's schedule, still wants F1 back even though Nation said there have not been recent discussions between the two parties.
"We still believe that in order to have a proper world championship there ought to be a race in the U.S.," Nation said. "And we believe that the best place for that to occur is Indianapolis Motor Speedway."
The historic track, which hosts both the Indy Racing League's Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, had the distinction of hosting all three circuits from 2000-2007.
