Next Formula 1 Academy Race - Canadian Grand Prix
22 - 24 May
Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
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23 - 25 Oct
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19 - 21 Nov
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Local Weather & Time
Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve - Montréal, Canada
Semi-permanent road course on Île Notre-Dame in Parc Jean-Drapeau - clockwise - long straights and heavy braking with the famous Wall of Champions
When was the track built?
Montréal’s island circuit was carved from the road network created for Expo 67 and developed further for the 1976 Olympics. The racing layout opened in 1978 as Circuit Île Notre-Dame and became Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in 1982. Over the years the pits were moved, chicanes refined and the lap shortened slightly in 2002 with a safer pit exit, but the character remains a sequence of fast straights linked by chicanes and a single tight hairpin.
When was its first race?
The venue’s first race was the Canadian Grand Prix on 8 October 1978. Local hero Gilles Villeneuve took his maiden F1 victory, cementing the island’s place in Canadian motorsport culture.
What's the circuit like?
- Power and brakes: Long full-throttle bursts into heavy stops define the lap. Brake temperatures and stability over the curbs are crucial.
- Hairpin slingshot: Turn 10 L’Epingle is a textbook 180-degree hairpin that launches the field onto the long Casino Straight toward the final chicane.
- Wall of Champions: The outside wall at Turn 14 famously claimed Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve in 1999. Precision through the last chicane is everything.
- DRS and overtakes: Two DRS zones typically run on the Casino Straight and main straight, setting up passes into the final chicane and Turn 1.
- Wildlife and weather: Groundhogs occasionally stray onto the course and Montréal’s microclimate can swing between sun and showers in minutes, spicing strategy.
- Benchmark pace: Official F1 race lap record 1:13.078. Qualifying bests have dipped into the low 1:10s on a rubbered-in track.
Lap records and benchmarks (by series)
- Formula 1 (race lap): 1:13.078 - Valtteri Bottas, 2019 Canadian GP - current 4.361 km layout.
- Champ Car (2002-2006): Montreal hosted late-summer Champ Car rounds, with poles in the high 1:18 to low 1:20s on grooved slicks of the era.
- NASCAR Xfinity (2007-2012): The NAPA Auto Parts 200 brought stock cars to the island, with pole laps around 1:41-1:42 and thriller finishes.
- Porsche one-make and Ferrari Challenge: Regular Canadian GP supports with big GT fields and kerb-hopping through the chicanes.
Why go?
Montréal mixes festival energy with classic racing. The island setting delivers great acoustics, city skyline views and easy metro access. The layout encourages overtakes into the final chicane and Turn 1, so late-race drama is common.
Where's the best place to watch?
- Turn 10 Hairpin grandstands: See divebombs, traction fights and the launch down the Casino Straight with cars up close at low speed.
- Final chicane and start/finish: Watch DRS duels, last-second out-braking and brushes with the Wall of Champions, plus podium views.
- Turn 1-2 Senna curve: Great for starts and restarts as the pack funnels into the left-right, with crossovers setting moves into Turn 3-4.
- Turns 6-7 complex: Heavy braking into a photogenic chicane where mistakes punish exit speed all the way to the hairpin.
Not just F1: Canadian and world series in Montréal
Champ Car era: The Molson Indy Montréal brought top-tier North American open-wheel racing to the island from 2002 to 2006.
NASCAR Xfinity: Stock cars thundered around CGV from 2007 to 2012 with memorable wet-dry strategy calls and classic road-course brawls.
Ferrari Challenge and Porsche Cup: Staple support programs during GP weekend with big grids and plenty of kerb-riding action.
Canadian Formula Ford/Formula 1600: National open-wheel talent showcase that regularly features as a support race.
22 - 24 May
Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve - Montréal, Canada
Semi-permanent road course on Île Notre-Dame in Parc Jean-Drapeau - clockwise - long straights and heavy braking with the famous Wall of Champions
When was the track built?
Montréal’s island circuit was carved from the road network created for Expo 67 and developed further for the 1976 Olympics. The racing layout opened in 1978 as Circuit Île Notre-Dame and became Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in 1982. Over the years the pits were moved, chicanes refined and the lap shortened slightly in 2002 with a safer pit exit, but the character remains a sequence of fast straights linked by chicanes and a single tight hairpin.
When was its first race?
The venue’s first race was the Canadian Grand Prix on 8 October 1978. Local hero Gilles Villeneuve took his maiden F1 victory, cementing the island’s place in Canadian motorsport culture.
What's the circuit like?
- Power and brakes: Long full-throttle bursts into heavy stops define the lap. Brake temperatures and stability over the curbs are crucial.
- Hairpin slingshot: Turn 10 L’Epingle is a textbook 180-degree hairpin that launches the field onto the long Casino Straight toward the final chicane.
- Wall of Champions: The outside wall at Turn 14 famously claimed Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve in 1999. Precision through the last chicane is everything.
- DRS and overtakes: Two DRS zones typically run on the Casino Straight and main straight, setting up passes into the final chicane and Turn 1.
- Wildlife and weather: Groundhogs occasionally stray onto the course and Montréal’s microclimate can swing between sun and showers in minutes, spicing strategy.
- Benchmark pace: Official F1 race lap record 1:13.078. Qualifying bests have dipped into the low 1:10s on a rubbered-in track.
Lap records and benchmarks (by series)
- Formula 1 (race lap): 1:13.078 - Valtteri Bottas, 2019 Canadian GP - current 4.361 km layout.
- Champ Car (2002-2006): Montreal hosted late-summer Champ Car rounds, with poles in the high 1:18 to low 1:20s on grooved slicks of the era.
- NASCAR Xfinity (2007-2012): The NAPA Auto Parts 200 brought stock cars to the island, with pole laps around 1:41-1:42 and thriller finishes.
- Porsche one-make and Ferrari Challenge: Regular Canadian GP supports with big GT fields and kerb-hopping through the chicanes.
Why go?
Montréal mixes festival energy with classic racing. The island setting delivers great acoustics, city skyline views and easy metro access. The layout encourages overtakes into the final chicane and Turn 1, so late-race drama is common.
Where's the best place to watch?
- Turn 10 Hairpin grandstands: See divebombs, traction fights and the launch down the Casino Straight with cars up close at low speed.
- Final chicane and start/finish: Watch DRS duels, last-second out-braking and brushes with the Wall of Champions, plus podium views.
- Turn 1-2 Senna curve: Great for starts and restarts as the pack funnels into the left-right, with crossovers setting moves into Turn 3-4.
- Turns 6-7 complex: Heavy braking into a photogenic chicane where mistakes punish exit speed all the way to the hairpin.
Not just F1: Canadian and world series in Montréal
Champ Car era: The Molson Indy Montréal brought top-tier North American open-wheel racing to the island from 2002 to 2006.
NASCAR Xfinity: Stock cars thundered around CGV from 2007 to 2012 with memorable wet-dry strategy calls and classic road-course brawls.
Ferrari Challenge and Porsche Cup: Staple support programs during GP weekend with big grids and plenty of kerb-riding action.
Canadian Formula Ford/Formula 1600: National open-wheel talent showcase that regularly features as a support race.
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