Recent Problems
Due to the introduction of a new legislative order in Europe, new bans in tobacco advertising have been imposed, and as a special case, Formula One is facing a major threat regarding this point. Due to these political and legislative circumstances, Grand Prix in this circuit was left out of the 2003 calendar as a response to the internal tobacco legislation in Belgium. The event was tagged as a World Class event within the national senate, and thus it was saved for the 2004 Formula One season. The section known as the Bus Stop chicane was reprofiled for 2004 with an additional sweep to the right.
Spa was dropped from the Formula One calendar in 2006. The organiser of the event went bankrupt in late 2005, and therefore the planned improvements to the race track and paddock had not yet been made. The Wallonia government stepped in and provided the necessary funds, but too late for the 2006 race to take place.
As of 2007, tobacco advertising bans limited the number of sponsors from the industry finding the sport appealing. As of 2010, only the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro still had tobacco branding, however the team recently dropped the Marlboro "stripes" from their race cars after accusations of it being linked to subliminal advertising. In comparison, in 2003 five teams (half of the teams competing) had tobacco branding on their cars.
Read more about this topic: Circuit De Spa-Francorchamps
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