Formula 1: North America Left Off 2009 Schedule
Today, the FIA announced the official schedule for 2009 after its meeting in Paris. The schedule is different than its proposed schedule in June. Most notably, the Canadian Grand Prix is gone. For a series that held two races in North America in 2007, they have switched their direction post haste.
The United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis was left off the 2008 calendar and in 2009 that continues. There are rumors about a potential return for the World’s most watched racing series to the United States. If anything, I feel this has become even less likely with the new schedule for Formula 1. In 2007 and the years prior, it mad
e some sense to have a US date when there was a Canadian date. Logistically, this made the trip overseas much more viable. With the removal of Canada from the Grand Prix season, the only thing that could bring the Formula 1 circus back to America is an awful lot of dough.
Tony George has made it clear he would welcome back a Formula 1 race to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 2000, he spent millions of dollars to revamp the inside of “The Worlds Greatest Racecourse”, so more F1 races would certainly help to pay for those improvements. The most recent news we have there is that they are searching for a “big league” corporate sponsor to help with the dollars requested by Formula 1 to host an event.
What will ultimately happen? No one really knows. We do know that for fans of Formula 1 here in North America, it could be a long time until we hear those beautiful engines again in person.
2009 Schedule Released on 10/07/2008:
2009 FIA Formula One World Championship:
29 March Australia
5 April Malaysia
19 April Bahrain
10 May Spain
24 May Monaco
7 June Turkey
21 June Great Britain
28 June France
12 July Germany
26 July Hungary
23 August Europe (Valencia)
30 August Belgium
13 September Italy
27 September Singapore
11 October Japan
18 October China
1 November Brazil
15 November Abu Dhabi
[tags]auto racing, formula 1, tony george, indianapolis motor speedway[/tags]
Tags: Auto Racing, F1, FIA, Formula 1, indianapolis motor speedway, tony george
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