Canadian Grand Prix
| Mosport Park 1961–1977 Circuit Mont-Tremblant 1968–1970 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 1978– |
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| Race information | |
| Laps | 70 |
|---|---|
| Circuit length | 4.361 km (2.709 mi) |
| Race length | 305.270 km (189.694 mi) |
| Number of times held | 48 |
| First held | 1967 |
| Most wins (drivers) |  Michael Schumacher (7) |
| Most wins (constructors) |  Ferrari (13) |
| Last race (2011): | |
| Pole position | Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:13.014 |
| Podium | 1.  Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes 4:04:39.537 (195.080 km/h) 2. Sebastian VettelRed Bull +2.709s 3.  Mark WebberRed Bull +13.828s |
| Fastest lap | Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.956 |
The Canadian Grand Prix (known in French as the Grand Prix du Canada), abbreviated as gpc, is an annual auto race held in Canada starting in 1961.[1] It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario as a sports car event before it alternated between Mosport and Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Quebec after Formula One took over the event. After 1971 safety concerns led to the Grand Prix moving permanently to Mosport. In 1978 the Canadian Grand Prix moved to its current home on Île Notre-Dame in Montreal.
In 2005, the Canadian Grand Prix was the most watched Formula One GP in the world. The race was also the third most watched sporting event worldwide, behind the first place Super Bowl XXXIX and the UEFA Champions League Final.[2]
The Canadian Grand Prix was not included in the 2009 Formula 1 calendar.[3] On 27 November 2009 it was reported the race could return in 2010[4] and the 2010 edition then took place on June 13.
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[edit] History
The early Canadian Grand Prix was one of the premier events of the new Canadian Sports Car Championship, a series which had been created alongside the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport in 1961. Several international sports car as well as Formula One drivers participated in the event. For the first five years, the event would be won by drivers with either prior Formula One experience, or would enter the championship after winning the Canadian Grand Prix. In 1966 the Canadian-American Challenge Cup ran the event, with American Mark Donohue winning.[1] Formula One took over the following year, although the CSCC and Can-Am series continued to compete at Mosport in their own events.
The first winner in Montreal was Quebec native Gilles Villeneuve who died in 1982 on the final qualifying lap for the Belgian Grand Prix. A few weeks after his death, the race course in Montreal was named Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after him. Gilles Villeneuve was one of the first inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, and the only Canadian winner at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
The 1982 Canadian Grand Prix, in the shadow of the death of Villeneuve a month earlier, saw another accident when Villeneuve's teammate Didier Pironi stalled on the grid. Raul Boesel struck the stationary vehicle, and Riccardo Paletti then struck the rear of Pironi's Ferrari. Pironi and F1 doctor Sid Watkins came to Paletti's aid to try to extract him from his car, which briefly caught fire. After a half hour, Paletti was extracted and flown to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
In 1987, the race was not held due to sponsorship dispute between two local breweries, Labatt and Molson.[5] During the break the track was modified, and starting line moved to its current position.
Ferrari's Jean Alesi won the 1995 edition, which occurred on his 31st birthday and which would be the only win of his career. Alesi had inherited the lead when Michael Schumacher pitted with electrical problems and Damon Hill's hydraulics failed. the victory was a popular one for Alesi, particularly after several unrewarded drives the year before, namely in Italy. Alesi's win at Montreal was voted the most popular race victory of the season by many, as it was the number 27 Ferrari—once belonging to the famous Gilles Villeneuve at his much loved home Grand Prix. Schumacher gave Alesi a lift back to the pits after Alesi's car ran out of fuel just before the Pits Hairpin.
The 1997 Canadian Grand Prix was stopped early due to a crash involving Olivier Panis. He was sidelined for nine races and some see it as a turning point in the career of the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix winner.
In 2001, there was the first sibling 1–2 finish in the history of Formula 1, as Ralf and Michael Schumacher topped the podium. The Schumacher brothers would finish 1–2 in the 2003 edition as well. 2001 was also noted for Jean Alesi achieving Prost's best finish of the season; he celebrated his fifth place by doing several donuts in his vehicle, and throwing his helmet into the crowd.
The 2007 race was the site of rookie Lewis Hamilton's first win. On lap 67, Takuma Sato overtook McLaren-Mercedes's Fernando Alonso, to cheers around the circuit, just after overtaking Ralf Schumacher and having overtaken Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen earlier in the race.[6] The race saw Sato move from the middle of the grid to the back of the pack and to a high of fifth before a pit-stop error caused him to move back to eleventh. Sato fought up 5 places in the field in the last 15 laps to finish sixth. Sato was voted "Driver of the Day" on the ITV website over Lewis Hamilton's first win. The race also saw a horrific incident involving Robert Kubica (who went on to win the race the following season).
In the weeks leading up the Grand Prix, city officials trap as many groundhogs as they can in and around the race course, and transport the animals to nearby Ile Ste-Helene.[7] Nonetheless, in 2007, a groundhog disrupted the practice session of Ralf Schumacher. On race day itself, Anthony Davidson had been running in third until he struck a groundhog, initially thought to be a beaver, which forced him to pit and repair the damage to his front wing. In 2008, a groundhog crossed the track at the hairpin in the 2nd practice session but luckily did not disrupt the session.
[edit] Wall of Champions
The final corner of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve became well known for crashes involving former World Champions. In 1999, Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve all crashed into the same wall which had the slogan Bienvenue au Québec (Welcome to Quebec in English) on it. The wall became ironically known as the "Wall of Champions". The wall also was involved in a crash with Ricardo Zonta, who was, at the time, the reigning FIA GT sports car champion. In recent years, GP2 Champion Nico Rosberg and CART Champion Juan Pablo Montoya have also fallen victim to the wall. In 2011 Friday practice, the wall claimed reigning F1 champion Sebastian Vettel,[8] although arguably this was avoidable, whilst the rumble strip claimed the pride of a race marshal who was running to the scene of the accident.[8]
Before the wall was named it also claimed victims such as 1992 World Sportscar Champion and long time F1 driver Derek Warwick who spectacularly crashed his Arrows A10B during qualifying for the 1988 race.
Full list of victims:
- Damon Hill, 1996 F1 World Champion, in 1999
- Michael Schumacher, 7 time F1 World Champion, in 1999
- Jacques Villeneuve, 1997 F1 World Champion, in 1997 & 1999
- Ricardo Zonta, 1998 FIA GT sports car Champion, in 1999
- Nico Rosberg, 2005 GP2 Champion
- Nick Heidfeld, 1999 International Formula 3000 Champion
- Juan Pablo Montoya, CART Champion
- Jenson Button, 2009 F1 World Champion, in 2005
- Vitantonio Liuzzi, 2004 International Formula 3000 Champion, in 2007
- Kamui Kobayashi, 2008-09 GP2 Asia Series Champion, in 2010
- Sebastian Vettel, 2010-11 F1 World Champion, in 2011
[edit] 2009 hiatus
On October 7, 2008, the Canadian Grand Prix was dropped from the 2009 Formula One calendar, which left the Montreal race off the list for the first time since 1987.[9] In the provisional 2009 schedule released in June 2008, the Canadian Grand Prix was to have been held on June 7, a date taken by the 2009 Turkish Grand Prix in the revised schedule.[10]
Since the US Grand Prix was dropped after 2007, this means that in 2009 no Formula One race was held in North America for the first time since 1958.[11] (The American Indianapolis 500 formed part of the FIA World Drivers' Championship from 1950 to 1960, but was not run to Formula One regulations and only very rarely entered by regular championship competitors.)
During the Australian Grand Prix, reports surfaced that the Canadian Grand Prix could return during the 2009 season in the event that the race circuit in Abu Dhabi was not ready in time.[12] On April 26, 2009, Speed reported Bernie Ecclestone as saying the FIA was negotiating a return of the Canadian Grand Prix for the 2010 season, provided upgrades to the circuit are completed.
On August 29, 2009, the BBC reported the provisional schedule for the 2010 season, which had both the Canadian and British Grand Prix marked down as "provisional". The Canadian GP was scheduled for June 6.[13] The 2010 Canadian Grand Prix was eventually run in Montreal on June 13, 2010.[14]
On November 27, 2009, Quebec's officials and Canadian Grand Prix organizers announced they have reached a settlement with Formula One Administration and signed a new five-year contract spanning the 2010-2014 seasons.[15] Under the five-year agreement, the governments will pay 15 million Canadian dollars a year to host the race, much less than the 35 million a year Ecclestone initially asked for.[16]
[edit] Sponsors
- Pepsi Cola Canadian Grand Prix 1961–1966
- Player's Canadian Grand Prix 1967–1971
- Labatt's Canadian Grand Prix 1972–1977
- Grand Prix Labatt du Canada 1980–1986
- Grand Prix Molson du Canada 1988–1996
- Grand Prix Player's du Canada 1997–1998
- Grand Prix Air Canada 1999–2003
- Grand Prix du Canada 2004-2008, 2010-
Because of tobacco legislation which prohibited further such sponsorship, new venues, and a maximum of 17 races on the schedule, the Canadian Grand Prix was initially removed from the 2004 F1 schedule. However, Canadian officials were able to raise enough money to keep a Grand Prix race, with the FIA allowing expansion to an 18 race schedule.[17][18]
[edit] Winners of the Canadian Grand Prix
[edit] Repeat winners (drivers)
Embolded drivers are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
| Number of wins | Driver | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Michael Schumacher |
1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 |
| 3 |  Nelson Piquet |
1982, 1984, 1991 |
| 2 |  Pedro Rodríguez |
1963, 1964 |
 Jacky Ickx |
1969, 1970 | |
| Jackie Stewart |
1971, 1972 | |
| Alan Jones |
1979, 1980 | |
| Ayrton Senna |
1988, 1990 | |
| Lewis Hamilton |
2007, 2010 |
[edit] Repeat winners (constructors)
Embolded teams are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
| Number of wins | Constructor | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Ferrari |
1963, 1964, 1970, 1978, 1983, 1985, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 |
| 12 | McLaren |
1968, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011 |
| 7 | Williams |
1979, 1980, 1986, 1989, 1993, 1996, 2001 |
| 4 | Brabham |
1967, 1969, 1982, 1984 |
| 2 | Lotus |
1961, 1962 |
| Tyrrell |
1971, 1972 | |
| Benetton |
1991, 1994 |
[edit] Year by year
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Canadian Grand Prix". Motor Racing Circuits Database. http://theracingline.net/racingcircuits/racingcircuits/Canada/_gp.html. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
- ^ Most watched TV sporting events of 2005 – A special report from Initiative
- ^ "FIA issue revised 2009 calendar". http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/10/8483.html. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
- ^ Canadian GP back on F1 schedule - BBC Sport, 28 November 2009
- ^ "Remember When...a GP was last cancelled?". Autosport (Haymarket Publications) 203 (8): p. 11. 24 February 2011. "The 1987 Canadian GP was canned because of a legal case following the promoter signing a sponsorship deal with Molson when rival company Labatt claimed to have first-refusal rights."
- ^ BBC Sports, "Hamilton wins Canadian GP", Sunday, 10 June 2007
- ^ Vancouver Sun, "'Beaver' gets all the blame", June 12, 2007
- ^ a b http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/13731713.stm
- ^ "Canada missing from Formula 1 calendar in 2009". grandprix.com. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns20840.html. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
- ^ Daily Mail, Canadian Grand Prix axed as Abu Dhabi gears up to take its place, Sportsmail Reporter, 3:03 PM on 07th October 2008 (accessed 10-October-2008)
- ^ PitPass.com Canada GP organizers surprised by FIA decision 08/10/2008
- ^ Canadian Press, "Montreal's mayor responds to reports about F1 race returning", 29 March 2009
- ^ (French) RDS, La F1 à Montréal le 6 juin (accessed 30 August 2009)
- ^ Circuit Gilles Villeneuve site [1]>
- ^ Canada returns to F1 championship - f1-live.com, 27 November 2009
- ^ Montreal Grand Prix Is Back On for 2010 - The New York Times, 27 November 2009
- ^ CBC, "Canadian Grand Prix off 2004 schedule", Thursday, August 7, 2003
- ^ The Guardian, "Last-ditch push to save Canadian grand prix", Friday 22 August 2003
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Canadian Grand Prix |
- Canadian Grand Prix Official Site
- Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame
- Satellite Photo
- Canadian Grand Prix at The Canadian Encyclopedia
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