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OMAYA, Japan — Angered by the decision to drop the Canadian Grand Prix from the Formula One calendar, teams said Friday that they wanted not one but up to three races in North America each season.
The dropping of the Montreal race left the manufacturing teams — which invest in F1 as a marketing tool to sell road cars — without an F1 presence in the world's most important continental car market.
“We are hugely disappointed,” Honda team principal Nick Fry said at the Japanese Grand Prix. “It's difficult to emphasize just how much.
“It will be a major topic at the next meeting of the teams. We need to look at North America on a more strategic basis.”
The dropping of the American race from the F1 calendar left Canada vulnerable, as the one-off costs of transport to North America were steep.
To overcome that economy-of-scale issue, Fry advocated two races in the U.S. and one in Canada.
“Really we need to look at how we not only get back Canada, but back to America — potentially more than once, because its such an important market,” he said.
Toyota president John Howlett said “hopefully in the next three or four years we can establish a real race in the U.S.”
The Canadian Grand Prix was replaced on the calendar by Abu Dhabi, and any return to North America would necessitate other races being dropped. However BMW team principal Mario Thiessen also advocated having a “Canadian race and at least one U.S. one”.
Race organizers and F-1 fans in Montreal were shocked Tuesday when they heard that the race had been dropped from the schedule.
A race spokesman has said the event was dropped because of a “commercial disagreement” between FIA, the world governing body of auto racing, and the promoter and that F1 officials demanded a steep increase in fees that were not feasible for the market.
Representatives from three levels of government said Thursday they want a look at the books before they commit to any public money to save the Montreal race.
Federal Industry Minister Michael Fortier, Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay and Quebec Economic Development Minister Raymond Bachand told a news conference they are still trying to get all the facts on why the event was yanked.
- With files from The Canadian Press
