2008 Formula 1 Season Thread

chitownjeff said:
They keep France and drop Canada?

What kind of BS is this? And stll no USGP!
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Magny-Cours' contract lasts until 2009. But even so, getting rid of Montreal is ridiculous. Sure, the track is rapidly disentegrating, and the facilities aren't that great, but even so, the track has so much more charisma than some flat piece of tarmac dumped in a swamp in Malaysia. I don't agree with getting rid of Valencia though, it's only ever hosted one race, we need to give it a chance.
 
Nereid said:
Magny-Cours' contract lasts until 2009. But even so, getting rid of Montreal is ridiculous. Sure, the track is rapidly disentegrating, and the facilities aren't that great, but even so, the track has so much more charisma than some flat piece of tarmac dumped in a swamp in Malaysia. I don't agree with getting rid of Valencia though, it's only ever hosted one race, we need to give it a chance.
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That line reminded me of Jeremy Clarkson lol.
 
What the fuck!!!! And I was planning to go there next year! Ah fuck you Bernie! Fuck you!
 
mclarensmps said:
I see how it's fucking cost effective to travel all the way to Brazil, but it isn't to come to Canada/USA. Fucking muppets.
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That was always something I wondered about. They could do Canada, a USGP, Mexico City and Brazil all one after the other in a month long swing. Give the teams the week before and after off. Easy.

I can't believe sponsors are happy about this. To bad Champ Car isn't around anymore, they could fill in the gap.
 
Canada Grand Prix dropped by Formula One

PARIS, France (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 August 23 at Valencia, Spain.

At the World Council meeting held at the FIA headquarters in Paris, FIA also gave president Max Mosley the power to negotiate directly with the Formula One Teams Association 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."

Also, Marco Piccinini will leave his post as deputy president for the sporting side of the body a year early "to focus on other professional commitments." Piccinini, whose successor will be elected at the November 7 general assembly, was serving out his second term.
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Source
 
Didn't see that coming - Canada's a very disappointing loss, particularly when very average events like Valencia still get a run.
 
Mosleygate, Hamilton's penalty debacle, and now getting rid of one of the most exciting and well-loved circuits all in the same season. Is F1 trying to destroy itself or is that just happening naturally?
 
Wow, didn't see this coming at all. I can see how this would be one helluva upsetting decision for our North American friends - first the US GP and now Canada too? :(

Some info on the Abu Dhabi GP:

Wikipedia said:
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was announced in early 2007 at the Abu Dhabi F1 Festival. The first race is expected to take place in 2009. The circuit will feature a Monaco-style harbour front section using public roads, and another section similar to the Eau Rouge corner of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

On June 25, 2008 the FIA announced the provisional 2009 Formula One calendar including the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the 19th and final race of the season on November 15.

After the first ever F1 night race in Singapore in 2008, the BBC reported rumours that the organisers of the Abu Dhabi race, would consider running future races at night.

The proposed Yas Island Circuit has been announced as the venue for a Formula One race in 2009, the event to be named the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It will be a newly-built circuit on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, and will be the second Formula One track in the Middle East.

The Yas Island Circuit is being built by the construction company Aldar who are also constructing a theme park, marina, residential areas, water park, sport and leisure facilities, as well as hotels and beach resorts in the surrounding area. Its twenty corners will twist through the natural island, passing the marina and winding its way through sand dunes, with several long straights and tight corners. The circuit has three planned grandstand areas.
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Also, from what I've read they are planning to introduce the first ever Indian and Korean F1 GPs, in 2010. That again, will mean the removal of a previous track. :no:
 
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Another god damn harbour street circut? 3 months ago i would have been all for it, but now? I'm sick of the damn things.
 
It would be easier to swallow if they were replacing old circuits with other old ones, but these new designs are terrible. They're just not challenging enough and they're way too forgiving of driver mistakes. At Canada if you made a big mistake you would most likely be in the wall with your wheel dangling off the side of the car. Do the same thing at a new circuit and you just take a quick trip through the runoff area and maybe lose a position or two. It's pathetic!

From the quote in G-man's post:
The Yas Island Circuit is being built by the construction company Aldar who are also constructing a theme park, marina, residential areas, water park, sport and leisure facilities, as well as hotels and beach resorts in the surrounding area.
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Ooh that will make the racing action sooooo interesting!!! :rolleyes:
 
Red_Bull said:
No North American Grand Prix is a big mistake in my opinion. We hear this every year though, that Montreal is to be dropped and it always manages to win a reprieve, so lets hope that's the case this time. It's pretty sickening to watch all the old classic circuits which characterise the sport disappear in place of some bland 'drome in some Asian waste land.

The teams need a race in North America though. Through-out the nineties it wasn't so crucial as there wasn't the abundance of the manufacturers that we see now. They need a race in the American market to sell their brand so expect there to be some sort of backlash about this.
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I agree. This is a terrible mistake to remove Canada from the calendar, there are far more worse tracks they could have and should have got rid of first.
 
Organizers Canadian Grand Prix surprised with FIA's decision08 October 2008


The organizers of the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal were extremely surprised to read Tuesday's news. The FIA announced the 2009 Formula 1 Calendar on Tuesday but dropped the Canadian Grand Prix from the calendar, but never informed the people in Montreal about their decision.

In a short statement the organizers of the Canadian Grand Prix said they had to find out about the news via the media and won't give any further comment until they have spoken with the FIA.
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http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2008...ian-grand-prix-surprised-with-fia-s-decision/
 
Also, from what I've read they are planning to introduce the first ever Indian and Korean F1 GPs, in 2010. That again, will mean the removal of a previous track. :no:
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Here's to hoping it will be France.
 
Joc? said:
There has to be a GP in France.

But somewhere else.
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Okay fine then, fair enough.

Anywhere else that might not need a race? I don't see why we need a European GP. If Valencia turns out to be much better with the new aerodynamic changes, than we could use it to replace Catalunya for the Spanish GP. If not, than vice versa.
 
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