Canadian Grand Prix dropped for 2009

[ISLAMATRON]

It's a shame because the racing was good(when the track wasn't falling apart) and Montreal looks like a nice place to visit.

Hopefully it will be back with a US or a mexican GP, perferably one in Mexico, I'd much rather visit Mexico than Indy.

[Harrelson]

This is very disappointing

Bernie is just serving his financial interests.

[Conceptual]

This just opens the door for 100% market share for the new IndyCART merger.

IT will come down to the regs adopted from 2010->.

It would be great for a unified rules series with F1, but I think that IndyCART may take the correct road, and then obliterate F1 in terms of technology and interest.

That is hugely down to getting some of the young NASCAR drivers to cross over and bring their fanbases with them however.

[modbaraban]

The question is though... Is it really beneficial for F1 sponsors to have zero NA races?

[andartop]

Really bad bad news. I do not understand how getting rid of all the historical venues is benefiting F1. Every single track we love seems to be heading down the drain. That said, it still is unacceptable for a race track to disintegrate while the cars are racing on it!!! Should have seen that coming...

[scarbs]

I don't know what the aim of this chnage is (probably as there's no matching US race). But the teams are now faced with devleoping a low drag package just for Monza, as there isn't another race like it. So much much for cost cutting, what next Monza?

[Conceptual]

I don't know what the aim of this chnage is (probably as there's no matching US race). But the teams are now faced with devleoping a low drag package just for Monza, as there isn't another race like it. So much much for cost cutting, what next Monza?

I thought the intent of the new regs was to have Monza spec for the whole season? Maybe this is a good thing in that respect?

[timbo]

Really strange news. We have known about problems for Silverstone and Magny-Cours for quite a long time, but with Canadian GP it came out of the blue. I think it has something to do with surface problems this year I guess. All in all, I am really dissapointed. One of my favorite circuits.

[timbo]

double post

[jeff8407]

How can they do this to us fans in North America! First, they take away the race at Indy and now Canada. This is horrendous.

Do the powers that be not realize that North America is the largest vehicle market for Ferrari, BMW, and Mercedes? More Ferrari's are registered in Los Angeles than all of Italy!

[modbaraban]

More Ferrari's are registered in Los Angeles than all of Italy!

Hush! Not so loud. If Bernie finds out Monza's doomed to be replaced by a race around Staples Center

[jeff8407]

I was actually hoping for the Dodger Stadium parking lot as a venue! http://www.f1technical.net/forum/#

[Project Four]

Total agreement with everyone else, it is a great shame that we have lost the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Slowly we are losing all the great, challenging, driver tracks, to be replaced with sterile, plain, Tilke tracks (Turkey apart) and we then lament the lack of overtaking and the boring races.

[RJC_pt]

The ways this is going we are better of seing lower classes... F1 people just see the $$$$$$ nothing more...

[donskar]

F1 is a tragedy with three main actors:

Bernie and Max at the apex
The sponsors on one side
Track promoters on the other

The rest of us have no effective part to play, less even than a Greek chorus

Racing teams and actual F1 fans are merely byproducts (or bit players, if you prefer that analogy) and of no real significance at all. The masses who attend the races are key, but a given -- they will allow themselves to be herded to any spectacle and would be as likely to attend ANY event if properly motivated/manipulated to do so. Give them noise, color, celebrities, a bit of naked flesh, jet fly-bys, and they're happy.