Teams unhappy with Canada axing

BMW SAUBER

Friday 10th October 2008

A number of leading car manufacturer teams in Formula One are adamant it is a financial necessity to have a North American race on the calendar despite the decision to drop Canada for next season.

The FIA released a revised schedule for 2009 earlier this week with Abu Dhabi being added as Canada lost out.

But a number of teams are shocked at the decision and are keen to see a race return to North America in the near future.

"We are not happy about not being in North America," said BMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen.

"The United States is the most important and biggest car market for BMW and I think for the industry as a whole.

"It has always been difficult to set foot into the US but Canada has always been a very strong operational base to get a second race up and running in the US.

"Rather than drop the Canada race we would rather use it or expand the operations in North America to have a Canadian plus at least one US race."

Honda chief executive Nick Fry agreed with Theissen, adding that the issue will be brought up at the next team meeting.

"We are hugely disappointed," he said. "It is difficult to emphasise by exactly how much.

"Honda is very successful in Canada, we make cars there and the local company is hugely enthusiastic about Formula One.

"We sponsor the event and we would like to see it back on the calendar as soon as possible.

"I think it will be a major topic of conversation at the next meeting of teams."

John Howett, Toyota team president and vice-president of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) added that is important for the sport to establish a strong foothold in the continent.

"We are sad because it is a great race and we like to go there," he said.

"I think one of the targets of FOTA is to actually ask the commercial rights holder to really establish a strong foothold in North America - particularly the United States - with a race which showcases Formula One well.

"It is a very important market for Formula One and hopefully in the next one to two years we can establish a proper race in the United States."

Your Comments

junior107

"Just bring our race back.at least 3 teams in f1 are not happy with bernie.bmw,honda,which sponsors the canadian g.p,and toyota.and of coarse ferrari do not like canada,bet that had something to do with this in a round about way.they own bernie,and mr max...........you just lost a million fans if you dont bring back our race......unhappy canadian fan......"

triumphrider

"To stuart49: Nascar DOES run in Canada. They run a Nationwide road race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and they are the governing body for CASCAR which oversees all the local tracks and the great Saturday night racing. Why don't you go find a forum for the uniformed as it would appear that would be better suited for you."

Bleddyn

"Stuart.. NASCAR runs in Canada at the same Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as the F1 cars do.... That said this is a terrible decision, hopefully the team owners can do something to reverse it, though I very much doubt it."

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