The absence of the Caꦓnadian Grand Prix from the 2009 Formula 1 calendar is 'very sad' and 'a terrible loss' for Montreal, the sport's 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve hꦜas stated.

The race - held around the evoca🦋tive Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, named after the French-Canadian's late father, on the ?le Notre Dame every year bar one since 1978 - was axed from the schedule as the result of an unresolved financial disputeꦬ between event promoter Grand Prix du Canada and F1 commercial rights-holder Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One Management company.

Despite never having triumphed in front of 🔜his adoring home fans - in fact finishing just one race from ten starts inside the po🍌ints, taking the chequered flag second to Williams-Renault team-mate Damon Hill during his maiden campaign in 1996 - Villeneuve expressed his disappointment that the grand prix will not be held this year.

"For Montreal, it's a terrible loss of business," asserted the 37-year-old - who owns the Newtow𒆙n Restaurant, in the heart of Montreal's trendy Rue Crescent - during the Canadian Motorsport Expo Qu?b?cois. "The whole weekend in town was fun.

"For the drivers, for the fans, it was always a great venue, exciting and fun. It is very sad𒉰. It was one of the most popular races of the season."

The Canadian Grand Prix is estimated to have brought in between $75 CAN million and $80 CAN million to theꦆ city every year, and was first held more than four decades ago in 1967.