The fate of this year’s Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix will be determined in the coming weeks as organisers seek to avoid its cancellation for a second successive year.
Formula 1’s visit to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2020 became one of many casualties of the pandemic, with the championship remaining only in Europe and the Middle East.
This year’s Canadian Grand Prix is scheduled to be held as the seventh round, on June 13, and would mark a return to North America for the first time since November 2019.
But a decision on the event’s viability is due to be made shortly.
“With the [government] authorities, we have agreed, that we should not go beyond the Easter weekend, so that is why I expect a response in the next few days,” race promoter Francois Dumontier said in an interview with Canadian broadcaster RDS.
“There are still a lot of uncertainties when we look at the pandemic situation in Quebec in general.
“Formula 1 wants to come to Montreal, that’s obvious. It’s a big step in the championship and they have a strong health plan.
“Obviously we have preparations before the grand prix. If ever we cannot present the grand prix in June, Formula 1 will not leave this weekend empty, so it will offer it to another country.”
All non-essential travellers arriving in Canada are subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine, though the measure is set to be relaxed for NHL players, reduced to seven days.
However with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix set to take place a week before Dumontier has accepted “even on a seven-day [quarantine] it’s almost impossible to achieve [it].”
Dumontier added that there would be no threat to the event’s future if it could not take place again.
“We have a contract valid until 2029 and it is firm,” he said.
“I don’t think there would be a concern, but it would be a shame not to present a grand prix for a second year in a row.”
Australia’s grand prix was shifted from March 21 to November 21 while China’s round, originally proposed for April, has been indefinitely postponed.
