Eight iconic F1 moments from the Canadian Grand Prix

The Canadian Grand Prix has produced a litany of historic moments within Formula 1 – not least multiple maiden victories for drivers in their career.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has also had its fair share of drama over the years, with close racing and unpredictable weather often on display in Montréal.

Canadian Grand Prix: Eight iconic moments from F1’s visits to Canada

A pair of firsts for Gilles Villeneuve – 1977 and 1978

The home hero after whom the Circuit Île Notre Dame is named, Gilles Villeneuve took in his second race in Formula 1 at home, but it was also his Ferrari debut.

Villeneuve would soon skyrocket to hero status among the tifosi, but in another rarity in Formula 1, he also earned his ever Grand Prix victory at his home race, taking the chequered flag in Montréal in 1978.

Starting third, the Canadian rose to the front after passing soon-to-be Ferrari team-mate, Jody Scheckter, before race leader Jean-Pierre Jarier – also looking for a maiden victory in Formula 1 – retired with an oil pressure problem.

Villeneuve would take a home win for Canada on the day, 13 seconds clear of his nearest rival.

The circuit was named in his honour in the weeks following his untimely death in 1982, and to this day, drivers crossing the finish line in Montréal travel over the message ‘Salut Gilles’ inscribed on the asphalt, in tribute to Villeneuve.

Jean Alesi takes his first (and only) Grand Prix victory – 1995

Montréal has played host to multiple drivers getting on the board for race victories in Formula 1, and the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix saw a poignant win for Jean Alesi.

Having spent his entire time at Ferrari not having won a race, despite 13 other podiums, Alesi had yet to stand on the top step – but he did so on his 31st birthday.

Winning the race from fifth on the grid, Alesi’s car – the number 27 Ferrari made famous by Gilles Villeneuve, no less – ran out of fuel on the cooldown lap, and an emotional Alesi was given a lift back to the pit lane by reigning World Champion and future Ferrari driver, Michael Schumacher.

Alesi would notch up another 15 podiums before his Formula 1 career ended, but that sole victory was certainly a popular one among the paddock.

The ‘Wall of Champions’ is born – 1999

Drivers exiting the final chicane around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve are greeted not only with a lack of run-off area, but a wall.

In the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix, that particular barrier became known as the ‘Wall of Champions’, as four drivers all crashed out at that point in the lap – three of which having been F1 World Champions.

Reigning FIA GT champion Ricardo Zonta became the first to crash out, before three of the previous four World Champions all came a cropper in the same wall.

Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve all saw their race end prematurely thanks to that troublesome chicane exit, and thus the ‘Wall of Champions’ was named.

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Lewis Hamilton takes a first win of many – 2007

In only his sixth race weekend in Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton had already been a record-setter in getting on the podium in each of his first five races to that point.

In a race filled with Safety Car drama (more on that shortly), the McLaren rookie remained calm throughout and led from pole to earn his first of more than a century of Grand Prix victories to date.

A whopping 10 drivers would not finish on the day, six of which going out through accidents and another four for reliability issues, but Hamilton was the driver to take the first of many, many wins in his career.

Robert Kubica bounces back for glory – 2008

One of the accidents in 2007 was particularly horrifying to watch, with BMW’s Robert Kubica flying through the air on the way to the Turn 10 hairpin.

He collided with the wall at extremely high speed, north of 170mph. Much of his car shattered on impact, and even flipped 360 degrees in mid-air before he finally came to a stop.

Quite remarkably, concussion and a sprained ankle would be the extent of his injuries on the day when, in years gone by, that accident would almost certainly have had a worse outcome.

He was ruled out of the next race in the United States, but the following year, Kubica returned to Canada in 2008 seemingly unfazed by what had come beforehand.

So much so, in fact, he went on to take what would be the first and only Grand Prix victory of his career.

Starting second, Kubica won what would become a frantic race. He stopped at the end of the pit lane under Safety Car conditions, and when Kimi Raikkonen pulled up alongside him, Hamilton was unable to slow down and piled into the back of the Ferrari, putting both cars out of the race.

Stopping once more than his rivals, too, Kubica had to open a gap to those behind so he could emerge in the lead in the final stint, and he credited “10 laps of qualifying” that allowed him to get back out ahead of team-mate Nick Heidfeld.

Eventually winning by 16 seconds, the Polish driver took not only race victory, but the lead of the 2008 World Championship at that stage.

Jenson Button wins a record-breaking race – 2011

Without too much hyperbole, the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix really did have everything.

Unpredictable weather conditions, a massive two-hour delay for torrential rain which made it the longest race in the sport’s history (four hours, four minutes and 39 seconds, to be precise), on-track drama and an unlikely victor made for a thrilling event once racing did get underway in earnest.

Jenson Button fell to last of the runners after making early contact with his McLaren team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, and was further punished with a drive-through penalty for speeding under Safety Car conditions.

But it was in wet-dry conditions where the 2009 World Champion excelled in his career, and despite six trips through the pit lane, six Safety Car interventions and having to work his way up from last in the field, Button was on a charge to catch Sebastian Vettel heading into the final lap, with conditions having dried.

At the slow left-right of Turns 6 and 7, Vettel ran off the racing line and onto a wet patch of the circuit, leaving him pitching into a slide as the McLaren charged through to take the lead with only half a lap remaining.

One of the unlikeliest of victories in Formula 1, Button said afterwards it was “definitely my best race” in the sport, and it remains a Grand Prix that will live long in the memory.

Another first for Daniel Ricciardo – 2014

Yet another first-time winner on this list, Daniel Ricciardo managed to take his maiden Grand Prix victory in Montréal in 2014.

Starting sixth on the grid, the then-dominant Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton locked out the front row and extended their advantage in the first stint, but both cars reported problems during the race.

Ricciardo moved ahead of Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel after staying out longer in the race, and after tagging wheels with Rosberg, Hamilton was forced to retire.

In the closing stages, Ricciardo joined Sergio Perez in chasing Rosberg for the lead, and five laps from the end swept around the outside of the Force India into Turn 1.

But on lap 68 of 70, the Red Bull driver used DRS heading towards the final chicane and picked up the lead of the race from Rosberg, a lead he would not relinquish before the chequered flag as a huge tangle between Felipe Massa and Perez saw the race end under Safety Car conditions.

A vanishingly rare pole decider and one stunning overtake – 2024

Another two-in-one here, as two moments need mentioning from the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix.

First, a tight battle for pole ensued in Q3, and when George Russell set a time that looked to be good enough for P1, a 1:12.000, Max Verstappen went and clocked exactly the same time, to the millisecond.

That was only the second time since Formula 1 began timing laps to three decimal points that two drivers set identical pole times, with Michael Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen all having done so together in Jerez in 1997.

To break the tie, Russell earned the P1 slot by virtue of having set that marker first.

While Verstappen would go on to win a thrilling wet-dry race on the Sunday, a quite brilliant move from Alex Albon also needs acknowledging.

Heading towards the final chicane on a still-damp track, the Williams driver managed to do the seemingly impossible by not only passing Daniel Ricciardo on the outside under braking, but he then tucked back into the inside line to overtake the Alpine of Esteban Ocon in one fell swoop.

It’s rare for drivers to pass two cars in one corner, but even rarer still to execute an overtake on both the outside and inside in one braking zone.

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