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F1 Canadian Grand Prix cancelled after 'messy' $250,000 beer sponsorship fight
If you think title fights are reserved for the racetrack, think again. The Canadian Grand Prix has been the site of some of Formula 1’s most iconic moments, which may never have happened afte…
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If you think title fights are reserved for the racetrack, think again.
The Canadian Grand Prix has been the site of some of Formula 1's most iconic moments, which may never have happened after an almighty scrap away from the circuit in 1987.
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The then 22-year-old Lewis Hamilton needed just six races into his F1 career to win the 2007 Canadian Grand PrixCredit: AFP9
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve can often throw up unexpected carnage off-track as wellCredit: GettyThe Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is where both Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo claimed their first-ever F1 race wins, in 2007 and 2014.
However, years before either of them got behind the wheel, it looked as if the track would be confined to the motorsport junkyard.
The Canadian Grand Prix raced onto the F1 grid in 1967 at the 'iconic' 2.458-mile Mosport International Raceway in Ontario.
20 years later, the event, now a jewel in the sport’s calendar, was dropped entirely, and not because of the Montreal weather.
read more on f1Instead, a historic fight off the track, not fought with pit strategies, but lawsuits between two furious beer giants: Labatt and Molson.
This was no minor sponsor tiff, but an all-out commercial cage match that almost finished North America’s longest-standing F1 event.
It became known thereafter as 'The Beer Wars'.
F1 expert Todd McCandless exclusively told talkSPORT.com: "Mosport was and still is an iconic circuit, but to understand how 1987 happened, it might be good to understand a little bit about its history.
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"You see, the 1987 Grand Prix in Canada wasn't the first one to be cancelled. No, that happened back in 1975. The race was cancelled back then as well.
"Now, back then, Watkins Glen [the former home of F1's United States GP] and Mosport were tied together as a package for North America.
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Mosport was the original site for the Canadian Grand PrixCredit: Getty9
F1 and booze have long gone hand-in-hand – you only need to think of Martini‘s classic stripes on a Williams car or champagne fizzing from the winner’s podium"They shared transportation costs for the series, and they also split a combined purse for the race winners. In 1975, the Formula One Constructors Association, led by Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, upped the purse each track had to contribute.
"Now Watkins Glen capitulated, but Mosport held out. Ecclestone gave Mosport a deadline, which they missed, and the race was cancelled."
By the late 70s, Mosport was deemed unsafe after a series of accidents.
Labatt, who owned the rights to F1 racing in Canada, swooped in to try and move the race permanently to Toronto at its Circuit Ile Notre-Dame — now known as the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
McCandless added: "It's important to understand the fierce rivalry that existed between Labatt and Molson at the time, each company struggling for dominance in Canada with hockey and baseball sponsorship opportunities, both companies trying to outbid the other.
"Labatt, who was a Toronto company, had the F1 race and Molson, in Montreal, had most of the other motorsport events, including the direct competitor known as IndyCar."
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Labatt were struggled to keep up with rising costs as F1 rights holders in CanadaCredit: GettyIn 1986, Molson took a direct shot at Labatt and F1 by announcing plans to bring the Molson IndyCar to this circuit in Montreal.
However, their rivals had exclusive rights to F1 racing in Canada and exclusive use of the track.
Bernie Ecclestone, never one to shy away from boardroom bloodsport, eyed an opportunity to clean house and bring in new investment.
McCandless told talkSPORT: "There was a much deeper, stronger undertow to this story that was on the heels of something called the FISA–FOCA war."
FISA [the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile] was the regulatory body of F1 at the time, and FOCA was a group created by Ecclestone and Max Mosley called the Formula One Constructors Association, which fought over commercial control of the sport.
Ultimately, the FISA–FOCA war led to the ousting of Jean-Marie Balestre from FISA and led to Max Mosley being installed in the FIA, which regulated Formula One, and he promptly sold the commercial rights to Ecclestone for 100 years.
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94-year-old Ecclestone was CEO of the Formula One Group for 40 years until its sale in 2017 to Liberty MediaCredit: AFPEnter Jack Long, a Californian promoter tasked with elevating the Canadian Grand Prix.
Its original sponsors, Labatt, admitted that the company had absorbed a loss of $26 million since it first backed the race in 1977.
The brewery had paid out $2.2m Canadian in prize money following the 1986 edition, but teams then championed an additional 12 per cent purse increase to cover inflation, with the funds also provided in US dollars.
Labatt didn’t have the money to keep up the rising costs following its continued losses — but the company still wanted the race.
McCandless told talkSPORT: "Jack felt Labatt's public admission that they had incurred losses over the years since they had been hosting the race, well, that was a good reason to move the race to someone else.
"Let's try someone else who can elevate the race to make it more successful, and he signed a deal with Molson.
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Labatt served as the title partner until 1987Credit: Getty"Well, as you can imagine, that launched a court battle in January of 1987 between Labatt and Molson.
"The court decided in favour of the city of Montreal doing a deal with Jack Long and Molson. However, Labatt quickly appealed that decision, and the appellate court overturned the lower court's ruling.
"Ultimately, they were both told that the decision was that Jack Long and Molson had the rights to the F1 Grand Prix, but Labatt had the rights to the circuit.
"Now this became really messy as you can imagine, and finally going back and forth and court and being prolonged, and it's taking so long.
"Time was of the essence, and Bernie Ecclestone said he'd had enough and he was gonna make sure that the Canadian race would be cancelled for that year.
"And that's exactly what happened. They cancelled the race in 1987 due to all the litigation or the beer wars, as some might call it."
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Molson - pictured here sponsoring the 1989 Canada GP - stepped back from its title partnership exactly a decade after their brewery rivalsCredit: GettyIn the end, the pressure just kept mounting on Labatt to step back first from FOCA, then from the Canadian Automobile Sports Club and then ultimately the city of Montreal itself.
McCandless continued: "There's no doubt this would have cost hundreds of thousands in litigation at the time, some of which Labatt was actually seeking in damages from Molson in their court case because of the loss of the race and all the legal expenses."
Labatt promotions director Roger Doré estimated they’d start by seeking $250,000 in compensation, which was attributed as nothing more than a diversion tactic by Molson vice president André Tranchemontagne.
Labatt dropped its suit in early December, opening the event up to be assumed entirely by Molson to signal a return in 1988.
"Ultimately, I believe it was always gonna end up in court, which is probably how Ecclestone wanted it, to be honest," McCandless said.
"He created this opportunity to jettison Labatt as the sponsor and get more investment into the race and facilities, which, it must be known, he got!
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Ecclestone wasn't impressed with Labatt's lack of developing new facilities, and their struggles to increase the purse or prize money"When Molson took over the race, they improved the facilities, and they got a higher purse.
Read More on talkSPORT"So this all ended the way that FOCA certainly wanted it."
Todd McCandless is the founder of theparcferme.com and is also the host of The Parc Ferme Podcast, which can be found on Apple iTunes or all your favourite podcast players.
