Montreal is at its best when the Grand Prix comes to town.
The streets are alive with the sound of 750hp and 20,000 rpm, not to mention the massive street festivals, overflowing bars and restaurants along Crescent St., and the overall party atmosphere that blows in to town along with Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, et al.
Come 2009, however, those four days in June that officially kick off summer in Montreal will now be like any other June day. The Dom Perignon will remain behind the bar, the strippers will make fewer tips and the city just won't be as enthusiastic as it could be, unless the Canadiens are vying for their 25th Stanley Cup.
FIA has announced it is dropping the Canadian Grand Prix which, from a marketing standpoint, is not the smartest move. Montreal has always been a big draw for F1 and if it's hoping to further increase its presence in North America, dropping Canada from the sched will all but make the sport obsolete on this continent, allowing NASCAR to further gain a stranglehold on racing fans here.
Taking that June weekend from Montreal is Turkey which allows the teams maintain its summer break. In the meantime, Abu-Dhabi—the new kid on the block—rounds out the 2009 racing season.
From the city's standpoint, this is devastating news. It's estimated the Grand Prix plunks nearly $80-million in to city coffers and that's not chump change. Sure, NASCAR has got a toe-hold in the Montreal market but by no means is it as a big of a draw here. Circuit Gilles Villenueve just isn't a NASCAR-friendly track and that probably does keep some away.
This isn't the first time Montreal has dropped off the calendar. In 2003, Bernie Eccelstone announced Canada had been bumped from the 2004 calendar because of tobacco advertising ban that was being implemented. A massive campaign from all three levels of government, plus additional funding from merchants and hotels in Montreal, allowed the race to go ahead. In 1987, another sponsorship issue resulted in its cancellation outright.
It's unknown what FIA's beef with Montreal might be this time around but already, merchants and hotels are vowing to join any coalition that would campaign to keep Montreal on the F1 sked. The word on the street is, Circuit Gilles Villenueve is the problem. It's a track the mechanics hate and many view this decision as a pressure tactic by FIA to get the city and the Quebec government to invest in a retrofit.
What may eventually save the race is a contract, signed by the city and the promoter with F1 which keeps the race in Montreal up until 2011. Breaching that contract could cost the F1 or FIA a lot of money if Canada's Grand Prix team lawyers up. It's assumed, however, that this would have already been discussed by those behind the scene.
Whether or not any attempt to keep the race in Montreal will be successful remains to be seen but those who want it to stay here better hope the plan works. Otherwise, it may be some time before we see another Grand Prix race here in Montreal and the city, its merchants, restaurants, bars, and strippers can't afford to lose that kind of revenue.
12 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Jeff Snyder 9 months ago
The teams always want a race or two in North America because for most of the manufacterurs, it is their biggest market. So what does the FIA do? They take away the only North American race remaining. Why should they go to Abu Dahbi, they already have one race in the Middle East. So thats two races in spain two in the middle east two in asia one in South America and none in North America. This just doesnt sit right with me. Also, the canadian gp has always provided great races. And this doesnt make any sense from a television standpoint since the North American races would be televised in primetime in Europe. The FIA needs to make better descisions soon or they are going to lose many fans.
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Tim Parent 9 months ago
I truly believe this is a ploy by FIA/F1 to get the city to spend more taxpayers dollars to fix up the track to its specs.
Several people have told me the team mechanics aren't thrilled with this track. Actually, they hate it. So, pull the race, get the city/province to fix it, and voila, new track at no cost to them.
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Craig Dalrymple 9 months ago
Actually, if you think about it, its 6 races in Asia, depending on how you want to treat Japan -- Bahrain, Abu Dahbi, Malaysia, Singapore, China and Japan. Technically the part of Turkey that holds the race is also in Asia. If you add a circuit in India, you basically have half the calendar in Asia with one race in Australia, one in South America, zero in Africa and North America.
Makes me wonder if Antarctica will get a race before either of the other two omitted continents get one.
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Tim Parent 9 months ago
I don't think Bridgestone (or whoever is making the tires these days) have sturdy-enough winter tires for that although it would be fun to watch!
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Anthony 9 months ago
Maybe Disney could build a theme park on the island?
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Tim Parent 9 months ago
They certainly could! And sell poutine!
I say rebuild the track and, while they're at it, put in a NASCAR track, too.
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mark andrew 9 months ago
Are you mad ? Build a disney theme Park ??? That is so Disrespectful to the Grat Gilles , its hi track and one of the only living Links to F1 and Villeneuve himself . They have 12 month in between each race , they can DEFINATLY resurface thew track properly and fully in time for the slot the next year .
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Craig Dalrymple 9 months ago
Looks like they have at least 24 months now.
As for a theme park, it does get a bit chilly there.
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Tim Parent 9 months ago
Yeah, Bernie Ecclestone said today no matter what, there's no race next year although he would like to see a race again in North America in both Montreal and Indianapolis.
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Nick Taylor 9 months ago
Dropping the Canadian F1 Grand Prix would be tragic, it's one of the races I really look forward to, along with Spa, Monaco, and now Singapore. They are all circuits that bring a lot to the season. They challenge the drivers, and the cars. It's beginning to get to the point that the race will become a procession and that will be a sad day for F1
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Billy Amann 9 months ago
Very very very smart business move i think. Who at the current time has the best economic climate? Asia... They are covering their butts on this one, saving the finances from harm. North America are in a bit of a pickle at the time being but i bet once these bad times pass we will see the races return.
Very smart move... plus i think most points here may have some form of play in the decision.
good article tim...
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Tim Parent 9 months ago
Thanks Billy! I appreciate it.
I think Montrealers are ok with letting it go, for the most part. Living in Montreal, the last thing most of us taxpayers want to see is spending millions to improve a racetrack when we've got a whole whack of other issues to deal with. And besides, it was becoming to expensive to host F1.
I believe, as you said, it's a bit of a win-win situation for all involved. Montreal doesn't have to throw money at the F1, the F1 can move to lucrative markets and, once the economic dust settles, the city will get the race back.
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