Canada OUT of F1 Calendar in 2009

The International Automobile Federation made a very clear statement yesterday about their future F1 plans regarding North America. And the answer is there aren't any. One year after dropping the Indianapolis-based American Grand Prix, Bernie Ecclestone decided that a Canadian race is no longer needed in Formula 1.

The 2009 F1 calendar has been revised and approved yesterday by the FIA and North America was left empty-handed. After almost 3 decades of hosting the Canadian Grand Prix – except for 1987, when it took a sabbatical – Circuit Gille Villeneuve will time-out and have to settle for NASCAR and Indy Racing League action, at least for the upcoming season.

Another novelty for the new season is that Formula 1 fans will no longer find out the name of the 2009 champion after the Brazilian Grand Prix, but two weeks later after the newly-introduced Abu Dhabi race (there goes the advantage for Ferrari). Also, the Turkish GP was moved from August to June to allow F1 teams to take their traditional summer break. Australia will still host season's opener in Melbourne, two weeks later than in 2008 (on the 29th of March).

Here's a the complete schedule for 2009 in F1:

29 March - Australia
05 April- Malaysia
19 April - Bahrain
10 May - Spain
24 May - Monaco
07 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
01 November - Brazil
15 November - Abu Dhabi