MPs bid to save Belgian GP

A group of Belgian senators is planning emergency legislation to present to the national parliament in Brussels, in an attempt to reverse the cancellation of the 2003 Belgian GP which was confirmed by the FIA F1 Commission yesterday [Oct 28]. The Belgian government is alone among EU members in declining to accept a waiver for F1 when tobacco advertising is banned on August 1, just 30 days before the Spa-Francorchamps event

Oct 28, 2002, 4:19 PM

Yesterday's FIA statement said: "In the absence of unanimous agreement by the teams to run at the 2003 Belgian GP without tobacco advertising, this event has been removed from the World Championship calendar."

Citing national prestige and the potential economic damage to the Liege region, the senators will try to persuade the parliament in Brussels to pass a temporary law allowing the race to take place next year. They will tell their colleagues that this might give the race organiser, the RACB, some time to find a long-term solution.

The date of the race was to have been August 31, one week after the Hungarian GP. As things stand, therefore, the teams will now get a second three-week break, and there will be no back-to-back races.

The Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps was a round of the inaugural F1 World Championship in 1950 and has been held in all but four seasons since.