Canadian GP organisers respond to the threat of students disrupting the race – Formula 1 news
The Canadian Grand Prix is facing further turmoil as a group of students in Montreal is threatening to disrupt the Grand Prix to be held over the upcoming weekend.
The organisers have responded to the threats by cancelling the “Open day” event for this year’s Grand Prix. The issue between the government and the students is over the raise in University tuition fee and it has been going on for about five months. So far,
there has been no solution to the issue.
The open day event has historically been held on the Thursday before the first practice, and during this time the fans are allowed to walk freely around the pit lane and watch the teams assemble the cars and even engage in friendly conversations with the
Formula One personnel.
The Bahrain Grand Prix was marred by threats and disruptions as well though the country faced a different kind of issue but the threat was very similar. Formula 1 did face one vandalism act in Bahrain during a Formula 1 exhibition event before the race.
That incident has prompted Formula 1 to be extra careful this time, and the Canadian GP organisers as well who have decided that the “Open Day” event will be scrapped for this year.
“Following a serious examination of the situation, made necessary by public disruption threats and the difficulty to measure their precise validity, the organisers came to the conclusion that it is necessary to restrain the access to Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
and precisely the F1 pit lane, on the day preceding the first sessions on track”, a statement read.
“Considering the various disruption threats made public recently, the free admission and the naturally openness character of the 'Open Doors' day, revealed some risks that we could not neglect. Under these circumstances, cancelling the 'Open Doors' day was
the only action we could take. Unfortunately, for the fans and our spectators, it was impossible to escape from such responsibility.”
It will be interesting to see how the event progresses as the threats can ruin the Grand Prix.
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