Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve

How it began

The circuit lies on Île Notre-Dame in the middle of the St Lawrence River, an artificial island built up for the 1967 World’s Fair. In 1978 the island’s roads, which run between the pavilions and the rowing basin of the 1976 Olympics, were joined up into a racing circuit.

Before that the Canadian Grand Prix had been held at Mosport and Mont-Tremblant. The first race on the island, on 8 October 1978, was won by local driver Gilles Villeneuve for Ferrari — his first win in the championship. After his death in May 1982 the circuit was named after him.

The track

The 4.361 km lap with fourteen corners alternates long straights with a hairpin and slow chicanes, so braking and traction out of the corners matter more here than downforce. The barriers stand close to the asphalt, and a mistake almost always ends in the wall.

The most famous spot is the wall on the exit of the final chicane before the pits. In the race on 13 June 1999 three world champions hit it one after another — Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve — and it has been known as the “Wall of Champions” ever since.

Memorable races

On 2 June 1991 Nigel Mansell was leading on the last lap and waving to the crowd when his car stalled at the hairpin, and the win went to Nelson Piquet. On 11 June 1995, his thirty-first birthday, Jean Alesi won the only race of his career.

On 10 June 2007 Lewis Hamilton took his first win in the championship; in the same race Robert Kubica survived a heavy high-speed crash. The race on 12 June 2011 lasted more than four hours because of rain and a two-hour stoppage — longer than any other in championship history; it was won by Jenson Button, who had been last at one point in the race.

On 8 June 2014 Daniel Ricciardo took his first win. In 2019 Vettel crossed the line first, but a five-second penalty for an unsafe rejoin handed the win to Hamilton. The race was not held in 1987, 2009, 2020 and 2021.

The 2026 season

In 2026 the Canadian Grand Prix moves from June to May: the race is on 24 May, two weeks before Monaco, and for the first time the round is a sprint weekend. The season runs under the new rules — new power units with about half of their power coming from electricity, active aerodynamics, and eleven teams now that Cadillac has joined and Sauber has been taken over by Audi.