Planet-F1

Bernie: No 2009 French GP

Monday 12th May 2008

There will be no French GP in 2009 after Bernie Ecclestone has made it clear that next month's event will be Magny-Cours' last F1 race.

In May last year Ecclestone announced that F1 would be leaving Magny-Cours due to dwindling spectators numbers and poor facilities. "We should not have gone there in the first place," he said at the time.

However, a month later he retracted his words, saying F1 would remain at the track for one last season with a June date set for the 2008 event.

Ecclestone, though, has now said that this year's race will definitely be Magny-Cours' last, which means France will not be hosting a round of the F1 Championship in 2009 - or until such a time as a new venue is decided on.

"We agreed that there would be a French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours in 2008 but not in 2009," the F1 supremo told Monday's issue of French sports daily L'Equipe.

"Prime Minister Francois Fillon told me we would then see if we could have a grand prix in Paris or just outside but that would not necessarily be for 2009, rather for 2010.

"In any case, 2008 will be the last time we continue like this."

He added: "I would really love a French Grand Prix in the streets of Paris."