Though there has still been no
official word from the city and the promoter, an article in the French-language
La Presse today had some good news from race promoter François Dumontier. He confirmed that there is a contract in place to make the renovations and keep the race until
2029. Here is a Google translation of the article with tweaking by me for clarity.
The Grand Prix of Canada will be presented in Montreal until 2029, confirmed the promoter of the event, François Dumontier, on Tuesday.
lapresse.ca
Feb. 28, 2017
Passing through the paddocks of the circuit of Catalunya while witnessing the first official laps of the Quebec driver Lance Stroll in Formula 1, Dumontier revealed that he had prepared some modifications to the 10-year agreement previously signed in 2014 with Formula One Management (FOM). "We have made amendments to our agreements over the past few months, but I can assure you that the matter is settled, that our contracts are signed with FOM and now we can look to the future. We had a contract until 2024, and it was amended so that we could go until 2029. All the contractual hassles are now behind us. "
Last June, Former F1 manager Bernie Ecclestone put in doubt the continuation of the Canadian Grand Prix since the modernization of the garages, the control tower and the circuit's medical facility had not been started [as previously agreed].
The Mayor of Montreal, Denis Coderre, announced on Tuesday morning, during an interview on Radio-Canada, that the extension of the pact until 2029 was a sine qua non [essential] condition for the construction of the project.
"It was important for me, because if we wanted to do the paddocks for 2019, then we had to make sure we had the race for the medium or long term," he said.
The new F1 paddocks will ultimately cost $18 million CDN more than expected, nearly $48 million CDN, confirmed the City of Montreal in a document released in December. These excess costs will be absorbed by the Government of Quebec, according to what the City of Montreal said at the time.
Then, in January, Mayor Coderre indicated that the City of Montreal and F1 would extend the agreement that binds them beyond 2024, taking care to specify that the only thing left to do is to put the deal on paper and sign it.
The new facilities, which originally had been scheduled to be delivered in 2017, are now expected to be completed in 2019.
Dumontier also took the opportunity to discuss his meeting with Liberty Media, which purchased F1 for US $ 4.4 billion in January.
"The meeting was positive, their vision of the future is interesting, explained Dumontier. It's a bit of music to our ears. But we have to give them time, because these people are in a very pronounced learning curve. (...) That being said, they seem to have an openness to discuss and work with promoters.
"Previously, there was little dialogue between promoters," he added. We are 20 promoters, and we talked little, but I feel it will change with the arrival of Liberty Media. There will be better collaboration between us, let's say. "
Dumontier also admitted to having talked a few times with Ecclestone, "but only on a friendly basis".
"The Stroll effect"
On the other hand, the founder of Octane Management said he was still looking for a major sponsor for the Canadian Grand Prix. However, he implied that the arrival of Stroll in F1 could enable him to make a breakthrough on this front.
"The appeal will become stronger," he explained. It is also our 50th anniversary, and the 20th anniversary of the winning of the world championship byJacques Villeneuve. The future is now assured. But this is a constantly evolving issue. We want to find the right one (sponsor), but I am not giving myself any deadline in this matter. "
According to Dumontier, he feels there is a "Stroll effect" at the ticket office of the Canadian Grand Prix.
"We feel it, and the season has not even begun," he said, with a smile on his face. People are talking about him (Stroll), about F1, so we already foresee a marked increase in the sale of tickets. We were even forced to add a section to the stands, just last week, because of the high demand. "
Dumontier added that he looks forward to welcoming BobHWS back to the race this year (for the 13th time) and seeing the photos of this year's famous Montreal F1 Babes (I made up the last sentence
).
