Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix

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.

Contents

1 History

2 Recent developments

3 Sponsors

4 Winners of the Canadian Grand Prix

4.1 Repeat winners (drivers)

4.2 Repeat winners (constructors)

4.3 Year by year

5 See also

6 References

7 External links

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 1999, the final corner of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve became well-known for crashes involving former World Champions. 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 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.

Kubica's violent crash at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix

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.

Recent developments

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.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10] (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.[11] 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.[12] The 2010 Canadian Grand Prix was eventually run in Montreal on June 13, 2010.[13]

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.[14] 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.[15]

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, 2010-

Grand Prix RBS du Canada 2005–2008

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.[16][17]

Winners of the Canadian Grand Prix

Repeat winners (drivers)

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

 

Repeat winners (constructors)

Embolded teams are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.

Number of wins	Constructor	Years
13	Ferrari	1963, 1964, 1970, 1978, 1983, 1985, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004
11	McLaren	1968, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2010
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

 

Year by year

Year	Driver	Constructor	Location	Report
2010	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
2009	Not held
2008	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
2007	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
2006	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
2005	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
2004	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
2003	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
2002	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
2001	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
2000	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1999	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1998	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1997	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1996	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1995	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1994	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1993	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1992	Gerhard Berger	McLaren-Honda	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1991	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1990	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1989	Thierry Boutsen	Williams-Renault	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1988	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1987	Not held
1986	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1985	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1984	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1983	René Arnoux	Ferrari	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1982	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Report
1981	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	Circuit Île Notre-Dame	Report
1980	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	Circuit Île Notre-Dame	Report
1979	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	Circuit Île Notre-Dame	Report
1978	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	Circuit Île Notre-Dame	Report
1977	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	Mosport Park	Report
1976	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	Mosport Park	Report
1975	Not held
1974	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren-Ford	Mosport Park	Report
1973	Peter Revson	McLaren-Ford	Mosport Park	Report
1972	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	Mosport Park	Report
1971	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	Mosport Park	Report
1970	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	Mont-Tremblant	Report
1969	Jacky Ickx	Brabham-Ford	Mosport Park	Report
1968	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	Mont-Tremblant	Report
1967	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	Mosport Park	Report
1966	Mark Donohue	Lola-Chevrolet	Mosport Park	Report
1965	Jim Hall	Chaparral-Chevrolet	Mosport Park	Report
1964	Pedro Rodríguez	Ferrari	Mosport Park	Report
1963	Pedro Rodríguez	Ferrari	Mosport Park	Report
1962	Masten Gregory	Lotus-Climax	Mosport Park	Report
1961	Peter Ryan	Lotus-Climax	Mosport Park	Report

G. Fisichella, M. Schumacher and E. Irvine on the podium of the 1998 Canadian Grand Prix