But the Englishman insist he will be sorry to see the annual trip to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal stricken from his diary.

He said: “One thing is for sure: everyone is sorry to lose the Canadian race as we all love Montreal and the warm support the city has always given Formula One.”

Race organisers revealed last week they had received a letter from Ecclestone confirming the decision to drop the Montreal event due to a ban on tobacco advertising in Canada, which is due to come into force next season.

Ecclestone initially denied the claim, insisting the calendar for next year had not been decided.

But yesterday he issued a statement through his Formula One Management company confirming the race is to be axed.

It read: “I can confirm that a letter was written to the Canadian race promoter following a meeting I had with him when I informed him the Canadian round of the FIA Formula One Championship would not be included in the 2004 calendar.

“The reason for this is that the Canadian government has brought into effect a total prohibition on tobacco-related sponsorship.

“There is a provision in our contract with the race promoter that should this become effective, we have the right not to include their event in the calendar for the relevant year.”

Ecclestone insisted tobacco advertising was the sole reason for the decision, blaming a drop in revenue for teams with logos who are forced to comply with local bans.

He added: “Our problem is quite simple. The formula One teams with tobacco-related sponsorship lose part of their revenue when a certain percentage of the events ban tobacco sponsorship.

“This was the reason the Belgian Grand Prix was not included in the 2003 calendar.”