The Canadian Grand Prix has been dropped from the 2009 Formula One calendar and replaced with the inaugural race in Abu Dhabi.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) issued a revised calendar with Turkey moving from August to 7 June to allow a summer break for the teams.

There will be no North American round after the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis was dropped this year.

The new 18-race season will begin on 29 March in Melbourne.

The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps has moved forward from September to 30 August, the weekend after the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

The Italian Grand Prix has switched back a week to take Belgium's original 13 September date.

2009 calendar

29 March - Australia (Melbourne)

5 April - Malaysia (Sepang)

19 April - Bahrain

10 May - Spain (Barcelona)

24 May - Monaco

7 June - Turkey (Istanbul)

21 June - Britain (Silverstone)

28 June - France (Magny-Cours)

12 July - Germany

26 July - Hungary (Budapest)

23 August - Europe (Valencia)

30 August - Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)

13 September - Italy (Monza)

27 September - Singapore

11 October - Japan

18 October - China

1 November - Brazil

15 November - Abu Dhabi

"The executives of the Grand Prix of Canada have learned via the media of the omission of the Grand Prix of Canada from the F1 Championship 2009 calendar. Therefore, the organization will issue no comment until having spoken to Formula One Management (FOM) and the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)," read the short statement.

MONTREAL - Organizers of the Montreal-based Canadian Grand Prix have refuted claims made by Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone that the racing organization has not been paid what it is owed for past hosting rights.

Ecclestone told German magazine Auto Motor und Sport earlier that Canadian GP organizers haven't given F1 its share of the money for the past three years. He said until that gets sorted out, there will be no return to Montreal.

"We tried our best, but they have not kept up their obligations for the past three years," Ecclestone said. "Until this point they have paid only 50 per cent of the money they owe us. I wouldn't say that Canada has no chance to return, but first they have to pay."

In a statement released Sunday, Canadian GP vice president of marketing Paul Wilson said: "It is totally untrue to suggest that our organization has defaulted on payments owed for the past three years."

Wilson said that Canadian organizers and F1 had a commercial disagreement regarding monetary obligations, but only for the 2008 race.

"We were working hard to resolved the matter in order to meet our 2008 obligations when Mr. Ecclestone, without notice, surprised everyone by unilaterally dropping the Canadian Grand Prix from the 2009 FIA schedule last October 7," Wilson said.

The Canadian GP - which draws an estimated $100 million per year in revenues and economic spinoffs to Montreal - was dropped from F1's 2009 calendar on Oct. 7, replaced by a race in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Turkish Grand Prix was also moved into Montreal's June 5-7 dates.

Federal, provincial and municipal governments have not ruled out providing financial aid to save it.

Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay has insisted the Canadian Grand Prix can still be saved following a “constructive” meeting with Formula 1’s commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone in London on Thursday.

Tremblay and a delegation from the Quebec government met with Ecclestone for two and a half hours to discuss the possibility of the race being reinstated on the 2009 F1 calendar after it was axed earlier this month.

Canadian GP organisers last weekend denied claims that they had defaulted on payments to Ecclestone for race hosting fees over the past three years – insisting that, while there were financial issues over the 2008 event, there were no sums outstanding from previous years.

“We’ve had a constructive meeting, and we now have a better understanding of the issues and challenges,” Tremblay told reporters.

“We still have a lot of work to do to evaluate all the options, but it is still possible to hold the grand prix in Montreal in 2009 and subsequent years.”


The prospects of salvaging the race seem to rest on injecting a combination of public and private money, although ministers were coy about the figures involved.

Quebec’s economic development minister Raymond Bachand suggested that the government would stump up taxpayer funds if hotels, restaurants and other businesses were willing to help financially.

“[The level of public funding] will be a reasonable amount,” Bachand was quoted as saying in the Montreal Gazette.

“It will be well under the [amount of] cash we, the taxpayers of Quebec, get in our pockets when Americans, other Canadians and Europeans come here and spend money.”

The Canadian GP is estimated to be worth around £37m to the local economy each summer, while Ecclestone is under pressure from teams and sponsors to ensure that there is at least one North American race on the F1 calendar.

GOVERNMENT MONEY FOR F1 RACE COULD COME FRIDAY

A decision on whether or not to spend government money to retain the Canadian Grand Prix Formula One race is expected to be announced Friday, according to a report in the Journal de Montreal.

Officials from all three levels of government recently met with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to discuss ways of returning the Canadian race to the 2009 calender. Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay called the meeting encouraging and constructive but stopped short of putting a dollar figure on what it will take to bring the race back.

The government officials all agree that they would need to find a promoter for the event after Normand Legault's group said it would no longer function in that role.

The newspaper mentioned Cirque du soleil founder Guy Laliberte and Montreal Canadiens owner George Gillett as potential investors but a spokesperson for Laliberte has previously ruled out any financial involvement with the race.

Gillett is no stranger to motorsports, having been on the board of the former Denver Grand Prix Champ Car event and current owner of NASCAR's Gillett Evernham Motorsports team. He has indicated an interest in getting involved in some form with the Montreal race.