It’s time for F1 to scope out Toronto

The news last week that Austin (Tex.) City Council had voted 5-2 to support the 2012 U.S. Grand Prix is good news for Formula One and the race’s promoters but maybe not so good for the Canadian Grand Prix.

For weeks leading up to last Wednesday’s vote, opponents of the race had focused on the payment of a $25-million sanctioning fee to F1, which has now been approved.

Although the race is scheduled for next June, a week after Montreal, there is already talk that it would be better to hold it later in the year when it wouldn’t be so warm (June can be boiling in Austin).

The suggestion is that the U.S. race could then be "twinned" with the race in Brazil in November, thus saving money. Twinning to save money is one reason the Austin race was initially pencilled in after Canada.

F1 returned to Canada in 2010 for $15 million (all either supplied by taxpayers or tourism groups), which is significantly less than the going rate for an F1 race these days. This followed a year when – because of a disagreement over money – there was no F1 race in Montreal, meaning F1 did not have a presence in North America.

But it now has that North American presence – in spades. It’s getting $10 million more from Austin than it’s getting from Montreal, for starters, and if the race is moved to the fall and twinned with Brazil, Montreal could suddenly find itself marginalized.

Now, a year ago Grand Prix weekend, I presented a case in Toronto Star Wheels that because the Canadian Grand Prix is taxpayer-supported, it should be moved around from time to time to other parts of the country, much like the taxpayer-supported Canadian Open golf tournament. I suggested several years in Montreal be followed by a year in Toronto, or Vancouver, and so-on.

I am now going a step further. I would suggest that because of what happened in Austin last week, and what might happen the next time the Canadian Grand Prix comes up for renewal, that Francois DuMontier, the president of Octane Racing Group, which promotes the Canadian Grand Prix, start actively investigating moving the race permanently to Toronto.

There are many reasons why he should do this.

– Unless I missed something, I didn’t see any signage at this year’s Grand Prix advertising anything "Canadian" (other than government). The Grand Prix does not have a title sponsor, nor many visible associate sponsors. And why is that? Because most of the head offices of all the large Canadian corporations, including the banks, are in Toronto.

Ergo, moving the race to Toronto would substantially increase the potential for serious Canadian corporate support.

– Some of the moneyed gentry may have been at the Grand Prix in Montreal but except for Rihanna (who was doing a concert there), there were few "beautiful people" in attendance. Why? Because when they do come to Canada, those folks all come to Toronto. There are more celebrities and singers and actresses on the streets of Yorkville on a given Saturday than are ever in Montreal for the Grand Prix.

Move the race to Toronto and the F1 crowd will be smack-dab in the middle of the celebrity driven culture it covets.

– I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of the same old TV shot of that geodesic dome on Ilse Notre-Dame that was a holdover from Expo 67. It was intriguing then but boring now. What the Grand Prix of Canada needs as a backdrop is the skyline of Toronto, the Big Smoke, the financial centre of the country and among the greatest of North American cities, complete with the tallest free-standing structure on the continent, the CN Tower.

– Pan those TV cameras around and show the world Ontario Place, Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands, the ferries in the harbour, the street life, the patios – many of the things Montreal just doesn’t have. Toronto is a big, happy, prosperous, multicultural city on the move with fine hotels and marvelous restaurants and ready for Formula One to introduce it to the world.

– Do you want me to go on? Everybody in Little Italy would be cheering for Ferrari, which means thousands of people all wearing red shirts. Hell, there’s an airport right downtown where Bernie and the rest of them could park their private jets.

Remember, Toronto was the original choice of then-sponsor Labatt to move the Grand Prix away from Mosport back in 1977. The city council of the day rejected the idea one day and Montreal city council endorsed it the next.

And that was probably the best thing at the time. Montreal was ready for the Grand Prix; Toronto wasn’t.

But that was then and this is now. Times have changed – and are about to change again.

Yes, it would take the city of Toronto, the province and the feds, and the country’s corporate giants to pull it off. It won’t happen immediately, but bears discussing. No one should reject this suggestion out of hand.

Toronto wanted the Olympics and fell just short. Except for the Olympics and the World Cup, more people watch and follow F1 racing than any other sport in the world and you can’t buy exposure like that.

On the flip side, Montreal is a very European city and has done a good job with the Grand Prix since the first one in 1978. But her day is done. The people who run F1 and are involved in it want business-to-business and the big money, the big movers and the big shakers are all in Toronto. This is where the action is.

You know what? The guy who found the site for the Grand Prix, and roughed out the course on the Expo Islands way back in 1977, lives not in Montreal, Que., but in Mississauga, Ont.

I bet Roger Peart would be very intrigued if Francois DuMontier called him up and asked him to nose around Toronto for places to stage the Grand Prix.

Who knows? Maybe he already has.

Comments

[Gerhard]

Yes just what F1 needs: another horrid compromise street circuit. Perfect. Frankly I am less interested in who attends races, even when I am amongst those forking out $1000's on occasion to view F1, than I am in the circuit having something to offer. Want an F1 race in Toronto? Build a proper circuit and outbid Montreal: I have a feeling one may be easier than the other. The last thing F1 needs is another boring "point and squirt" street circuit like an Indy course.

[DJL]

Dear Norris.... You're dreaming.

FOTA chairman and McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh recently said that F1 should have two races in America, one on the east coast (and by that he meant north-east), and one on the west coast. And apparently he's not the only F1 team boss thinking two races in the USA would be a fine idea.

To paraphrase you, "The people who run F1 and are involved in it want business-to-business and the big money, the big movers and the big shakers are all in"... the USA. "That's where the action is." Canada's largest corporations (ie: the banks and RIM) and minor players compared to USA businesses.

If the Chair of FOTA gets his way, and a second USA race is added to the F1 calendar, you can probably forget about Canada having a race at all.

[allenparkpete]

great blog, Norris. I would love to see the GP here in Toronto. After watching the Valencia race, it also occurred to me that Toronto could revitalize part of the docklands area or some such to accomodate a GP circuit. greater access for American fans to attend a GP in Toronto is also a plus for the race and for the city. think dollars. Ford Bros. - are you listening?

[David White]

Great idea...I am sending you some video from the very first Canadian Grand Prix, Mosport 1967. Please link it to your story.

[TedNes]

Where to have it? The Parkdaler's complain about the Indy constantly, and that course is nowhere near an F1 caliber. Anywhere else thru the streets would be utter chaos....The F1 circus LOVES Montreal----don't forget that. Montreal has never had attendance problems-----it's always been well attended by people from all over North America. Montreal still has that European feel to it----Toronto is wayyyyyyy to uptight for an F1 race. Sorry Norris, wresting the GP away from Montreal would be a very tall order.....

[JB]

Wow, that's exactly what we need to do. Move one of the most lucrative F1 races from a pristine and cultured city to the logistical nightmare that is Tdot. Amongst all those amazing attractions and sightlines that Norris points out as being far superior in Toronto, he fails to mention what a nightmare it is to traverse the city for visitors. How fun do you think it will be for race fans to have to get around the city to see everything, especially when you have a million plus visitors in town for the weekend?

In Montreal, with their condensed downtown and superior transit system, this has never been a big problem (hence part of why they are known as festival city and do it better than most places). I've lived in both cities and Montreal is the far superior one for tourists and F1 enthusiasts.

I agree, the corporate sponsorship appeal of Toronto is enticing, but name me one festival/event that the city does well. Nuit blanche is a nightmare, Taste of Italy is confined to half a dozen streets, and the UFC event was in two buildings and mostly managed externally. I have absolutely no faith in the city of Toronto to properly manage a prestigious event such as F1.

[Gord]

If the race were to move from Montreal it would more likely end up in Calgary. F1 has a penchant for oil money anyway and Calgary certainly has lot of it. Build a track out in Canmore leveraging some of that Olympic infrastructure. Lots of terrain, scenic mountain views and even the Prime Minister is nearby. Plus any place with oil sands is hardly going to have an environmental issue with a car race.

[Andrew]

I am sure the NIMBY presence here in TO will really welcome the F1 race. Considering Montreal have hosted this for decades and they still attract a good amount of complains every year, in Toronto it will never take off. The only plus side is the current city admin may actually embrace the idea as opposed to the previous which would rather host competing events on the same weekend...

As a race fan also, the Indy track is not exactly good for the show. If the 6-lane wide Valencia can't get any passing on TV, the TO track certainly won't cut it. And this is competing with Montreal with usually the most action pack race. While building a dedicated venue will be interesting(face it, Mosport, as great as it is, will never be suited to run modern F1, and nor would you want to as it'll ruin the place), but seeing how fast the sub-urb sprawl is growing in GTA, we'll be building this track in the sub-urb of Barrie or Hamilton.....