F1: Tony George, Mad Max & Bernie Screwed You
Well that does it then, Tony George’s dream of returning Formula One to Indianapolis Motor Speedway was, and will continue to be, a dream along the lines of Dorothy & Toto not being in Kansas any longer.
The World Motor Sport Council met in Paris today and decided to go ahead with a program that includes no races in North America. The decision means the 2009 calender will be without the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
The FIA awarded Abu Dhabi, UAE their first ever race in place of Canada for the 2009 season without giving any further details about their decision.
It’s the first time since 1987 that the Canadian GP won’t be on the F1 schedule.
Also in Paris, the FIA gave president Max “The Littlest Perv” Mosley the power to negotiate directly with the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) about proposed measures to cut F1 team costs in half by 2010.
Should negotiations with the 10 teams fail, then the FIA can “enforce the necessary measures to achieve this goal.” (Cue “Mistress Abi” and her riding crop! - ed)
As for Bernie’s part in this disaster for North American F1 fans, it’s believed contractual problems between Circuit Gilles Villeneuve officials, and commercial rights holder F1 management (FOM) are believed to have contributed to the decision.
Put another way, Bernie attempted to extract blood form a turnip with an asking price somewhere north of the combined holdings of Fort Knox, the Bank of England and Bernie’s private purse at Credit Suisse.
And not for the first time. In 2003, Ecclestone announced the race had been dropped from the 2004 calendar because of an impending federal ban on tobacco advertising. But extra money (do you see a pattern here - ed) was put up and the race went ahead.
Normand Legault, so much for “Bienvenue au Québec” huh? How does it feel being treated as if you were a member of Mosley’s special little London club?
Local political officials may feel the same way as reportedly they had no idea the event would be removed from the calendar, and the official website is still advertising tickets for next year (as this is written). “The executives of the Grand Prix of Canada have learned via the media of the omission of the Grand Prix of Canada from the F1 Championship 2009 calendar,” organizers said in a statement today, adding they would not comment further until FIA had been consulted.
Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay, speaking on Radio-Canada, said: “We’re talking about losses of some 75 million dollars to the local economy as a result. This is a large sum.”
Tremblay said the decision would have an impact on the global image of the city, adding that over 300 million people watch the race.
“We’ll see in the coming hours what we can do,” Tremblay added, announcing a meeting with Normand Legault, promoter of the Canadian Grand Prix.
Sorry mayor, your global image will always take a backseat to what FOM and FIA[sco] believe is in their “best interest.” (not to be confused with the fans best interest - ed)
Rest in Peace Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Nine Knowing you Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Notre-Dame, so long!
Related articles:
- $5.5 million investment - The Canadian Grand Prix opens its international press centre and new paddock installations
- Opening of the new international press centre and new paddock installations for the Canadian Grand Prix
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Bernie is a fuckwit, not only would he sell his own mother, he’d have her delivered C.O.D.
With the economic downturn, the last thing you need to do is hitch your wagon to some of the nations Bernie has signed. Turkey has already fallen over, so Bernie, the hypocrite, stepped in himself. Malaysia wont be able to keep up with his fee in the long term.
Just throw all the traditional venues overboard. BTW, where is the upside, for F1, with a race in the UAE? Bahrain is already on the calandar & it is basically next-door geographically.
How do you explain to the sponsors, no North American races? It wont stop here either, India wants in, as does Korea, so somebody else will have be culled.
Alternatively, has F1 become such a TV spectacle that the host nations population is irrelevant? Somehow I dont think Bernie would be featuring these venues if they could not stump up his fee.
Korea is already in…
as for this… “BTW, where is the upside, for F1, with a race in the UAE?”
The “up-side” is Abu Dahbi is home to the Ferrari Amusement park, make of that what you will.
Yeah, like India, Korea is gunning for a race. Although I think India has a is actually pencilled in for 2010/11?
My point on Abu Dahbi is, why another mid-east race location. Bahrain kind of covers that, if Bernie had stuck another round in China (pop 1.5B) I could understand….but another oil state? What next? Qatar?…………….well I guess the answer would be yes, if they pay Bernie enough.
As I say, has F1 become such a TV spectacle that the host nation is not that important?
Legault allegedly had a contract through 2011. This has to be Max spanking his “enemies” over his “personal” sex life.
As for how come another mid-east oil race? How about that’s where all the cash is, and they are more than willing to part with more of it than anyone else.
You’re right George, he signed for 5 years thru 2011, plus a a number of options years, the terms of the option I don’t recall at the moment.
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