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Organizers, fans and media alike were shocked when the news broke that Formula One Management and the FIA had canceled the perennial Canadian Grand Prix, but the prospect remained open for local officials to renegotiate the contract. We're disappointed to report, however, that those prospects have now all but completely dissipated, as negotiations between the sport's commercial rights-holder Bernie Ecclestone and representatives from the Canadian federal, Quebec provincial and Montreal municipal governments have broken down. And everyone's fingers are pointing at Bernie.

According to Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay, Ecclestone put forward an outrageous proposal extorting exorbitant multi-million-dollar fees from the race organizers, who receive backing from the three levels of government. The Canadian representatives then began considering levying a new tax over local hotels to cover the cost and planning to establish a non-profit organization to come up with a fiscally sound counter-offer, but even those prospects were completely shut down when Ecclestone stated his refusal to budge from his terms whatsoever. And so, with the US Grand Prix still out of the running – for the time being, at least – the top level of motor racing has completely abandoned North America altogether.

[Source: Autosport | Image: Lluis Gene/Getty]

Ever wonder how expensive it is for a manufacturer to compete in Formula 1 racing? Not surprisingly, it ain't cheap. Each of the successful teams spend hundreds of millions of dollars on their programs, but success is not necessarily tied in to how much dough was spent. For instance, Ferrari, winners of this year's constructor's championship with 172 total points, spent about $2.4 million per point in 2008. McLaren and BMW, numbers two and three respectively, spent a bit more than that figure, but still under a cool $3 mil. Honda and Toyota, though, had budgets nearly as large as the top-tier manufacturers yet scored significantly fewer points. In fact, Honda's meager 14 points cost the automaker over 28 million buckaroos a piece, making theirs the most expensive points of all. On average, teams spent about $4.3 million per point. No wonder the sport is looking to cut its budget as soon as possible. Thanks for the tip, Keith!

[Source: F1 Fanatic]

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix

It doesn't get any closer than this. A photo-finish has nothing on the last-minute – make that last-second – end to yesterday's Brazilian Grand Prix, the ultimate decider of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship. Even if you were watching it, chances are you might have missed it. It was that close.

Heading into this final round, the rival pair of young guns Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) were the only two in contention for the drivers' title. But Hamilton's lead in points would mean that Massa would have to win the race with Hamilton coming in no better than sixth place. The win would put the two tied in points, but give Massa the crucial extra grand prix victory to just edge out Hamilton and claim the title. Any less and they'd have to start counting podiums. Saturday's qualifying set the stage: Massa on pole, wildcard Trulli beside and team-mate Raikkonen behind him, with Hamilton stuck in fourth place on the grid. Les jeux sont faites; all bets were placed and the dealer spun the ball. And we wouldn't know who had taken home the prize until the very end. Follow the jump to read how it turned out.

We're not going to tell you who won yesterday's season finale at the Brazilian Grand Prix. We'll leave that to Noah in his usual race recap. What we will tell you is that Lewis Hamilton bounced back from a scandal-ridden season that saw his McLaren team excluded from the championship in 2007 to capture this year's World Drivers Championship. That makes Hamilton the youngest F1 champion ever in only his second year as part of the grand prix circus. British-born Hamilton won the title 67 days before his 24th birthday. With five wins in 2008, he successfully managed to avoid the sophomore jinx. Hopefully he won't follow in the footsteps of Jacques Villeneuve and abandon a successful team for a startup with lots of money and zero success. The really big question for Lewis now is will he acknowledge that he is in fact the Stig? Thanks to Richard for the tip!

[Source: Formula1.com, Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty]

In the wake of the FIA's shocking proposal to move to standardized spec engines across the Formula One grid, the participating teams have met to come up with alternative cost-cutting measures to implement in the sport. After what was described as an unprecedentedly unanimous meeting of team principals under the newly formed Formula One Teams Association, Ferrari's Luca di Montezemolo and Toyota's John Howett met with our favorite whipping post, Max Mosley, on neutral ground in Geneva to discuss alternatives.

Although the only official word following the meeting Tuesday in Geneva is that the discussions were constructive, reports indicate that considerable agreements were reached towards bringing down the costs of participation in Formula One without having to resort to spec engines. Among those measures reported include the life of each engine being expanded from the current two-race requirement to three and a requirement for each manufacturer to offer 25 engines for purchase by independent teams at 10 million euros per unit. Nothing has been officially announced yet, but the representatives are expected to meet again after the season's conclusion at the upcoming Brazilian Grand Prix to further discuss the arrangements, which are tipped to be stop-gap measures for the coming two seasons while the FIA comes up with more reasonable proposals for the long term.

[Source: Autosport]

Click for a hi-res gallery of the current Force India VJM01

So far, the Force India team has had a consistent season in Formula One. Unfortunately, that means consistently running at the back. But Indian business mogul Vijay Mallya is committed to making a go of it, and the latest deal in the works could give his team the machinery they need to start moving up the field.

The deal is reportedly all but complete between perennial back-marker Force India and front-runners McLaren for the former to buy their cars – lock, stock and barrel – from the latter. It's a highly tentative deal, however, as Formula One rules are due to be enacted that would ban customer cars. F1 teams are supposed to act as their own constructors, however other teams – such as Red Bull and Toro Rosso, Honda and the defunct Super Aguri – have been using common designs. David Richards' Prodrive outfit was slated to re-enter the series with customer cars from McLaren, but withdrew their tender at the last minute due to the anticipated ban on customer cars. Force India, which currently builds its own chassis and buys engines from Ferrari, evidently thinks the rules won't be enforced. If it is allowed to proceed, the Force India team would turn into an effective B-squad for McLaren.

[Source: F1-Live]

The French are getting screwed out of their Formula One fix. A little over a week after French Canadians began mourning the Canadian Grand Prix's cancellation from the 2009 F1 calendar, word comes that the French Grand Prix has also been nixed. The GP's promoter, the Federation du Sport Automobile (FFSA), announced the race's cancellation yesterday and blamed it on finances, though we find it hard to believe that even an F1 race in Europe can't make money in these tough economic times. With the race at Circut de Nevers Magny-Cours scrapped, the 2009 F1 calendar has now been whittled down to just 17 races.

The French GP began in 1906, and has run continuously since 1950 except for 1955 when it was cancelled after a horrible accident at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This year's cancellation is not expected to be permanent, however, as the FFSA loses its promotion rights in 2010, and F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone has expressed his wish to see it moved from the Magny-Cours track, where it's been held since 1991, to somewhere closer to Paris.

[Source: Telegraph.co.uk, Photo by JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK/AFP/Getty]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Japanese F1 GP

Wildcards. That's what racing fans want, isn't it? Yet so many seasons in the recent history of grand prix racing have been down to just a handful of drivers – just one or two, in many cases – contending for race victories and ultimately the championship. Last year's four-way face-off between Kimi Raikkonnen, Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso put the racing world on notice. But even that free-for-all is paling by comparison to this season, with no fewer than seven drivers (Hamilton, Raikkonen, Massa, BMW's Robert Kubica, McLaren's number two Heikki Kovalainen, double world champion Fernando Alonso and even perennial back-marker Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel) taking turns on the top step of the podium, turning the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship into a heated battle the likes of which we haven't seen for a long time. This weekend's Japanese Grand Prix was no exception. And if you don't have it recorded for future enjoyment, follow the jump to read why.

Everyone's surprised as the FIA has announced it is canceling the Canadian Grand Prix. Those in the world of F1 racing have come to know the event as a staple of the F1 calendar. Racing fans in Montreal, this writer's home town that has hosted the race for the past three decades, are shocked to lose the event. And that includes the race organizers, who apparently learned of the news the same way the rest of us have.

The cancellation of the race leaves a month-long gap in the race calendar in August of next season, and with the U.S. Grand Prix off the schedule the past few years, means F1 will stay completely out of North America. And save for the Brazilian Grand Prix, out of the Western Hemisphere altogether. But the trip across the Atlantic for the one race cost the teams dearly, and the sport's organizers have been on a crusade to cut costs. No doubt the officials at le Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will be burning up the phone lines to Formula One Management and the FIA, and organizers in far-flung Rio de Janeiro and Melbourne will be waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. Thanks to everyone who sent in the tip.

[Source: F1-Live, Photo by CARLO ALLEGRI/AFP/Getty]

Opening night can be the worst time to see a new production. But it can also be the most painfully entertaining, watching all the actors trip over their toes and forget their lines with the pressure to perform bearing down and the bright lights glaring in their eyes.

This weekend's Singapore Grand Prix wasn't just the first race on a new track and in a new host country. It was also the very first Formula One race held at night. No problem, you might figure, for these are the most professional drivers in the world. Well, not quite. But opening night was still highly entertaining; probably more so as a result. If you've recorded the race and haven't watched it yet, move along. But if you haven't, or even watched part and skipped out before the end, you'll want to follow the jump to see how Formula One's foray into the nocturnal panned out for this year's crop of championship hopefuls.