FIA drops Canadian GP from F1 calendar for 2009

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.

But the eight races in Indy were often marred by controversy. In 2002, Michael Schumacher let teammate Rubens Barrichello win, a tactic most considered payback for a race earlier in the year when Barrichello was told to park his car on the course and let Schumacher go past.

In 2005, just before taking the green flag, 14 of 20 drivers pulled off the track because of safety concerns over Michelin's tires.

And before Indy's final race in 2007, Ecclestone made it clear that the series did not need an American race, comments that made fans unhappy.

Yet, the USGP consistently drew one of the biggest crowds on the circuit, attracting about 125,000 fans each year. And getting rid of the Canadian GP could have a trickle-down effect on Indianapolis' hopes.

"If you have only race in North America, there may be a bigger market for tickets," Nation said.

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 Aug. 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 Nov. 7 general assembly, was serving out his second term.