MONTREAL — Lewis Hamilton has one race at the top of his list.
Nothing compares to competing at Silverstone — his home track — for the seven-time world champion.
The Canadian Grand Prix, however, ranks a close second.
“One of my favourite Grands Prix,” the Ferrari driver said. “‘One of my favourite fan experiences.”
Hamilton highlighted the up-close feel with spectators, even when he’s flying around Circuit Gilles Villeneuve at more than 300 kilometres per hour.
“The grandstands are really close to the track,” he said. “You go somewhere like Austria — beautiful circuit, beautiful countryside — but if you go on the track down to Turn 4, the grandstands are so far away you need binoculars.
“Here, they’re right next to you as you’re braking into Turn 10, or coming through Turn 2 … You get a different sense of that experience from a driver’s perspective. I think it’s amazing.”
The 40-year-old Brit won his first-ever Formula One race in Montreal with McLaren back in 2007. He now holds a record 105 career wins, and his seven victories at the Canadian GP tie him with Michael Schumacher for the most all-time.
And Hamilton is not the only big fan of racing in Montreal. Drivers who have yet to top the podium in Canada also spoke positively about the challenging course.
“A track I enjoy,” said McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, the current F1 leader. “It’s very, very difficult to drive around here, to not make mistakes.”
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is situated on Île Notre-Dame, a man-made island on the banks of the St. Lawrence River with a backdrop of the city’s downtown.
The hybrid street circuit has two long straights and tricky chicanes, and is well-known for featuring plenty of overtakes. A wild race in 2024 featured 83 alone.
Also adding character: inclement weather, the “Wall of Champions” — an often crashed-into barrier at the final turn — and groundhogs. The furry rodents routinely risk their lives and run onto the surface.
“You never know what you’re going to get here. Groundhogs running around, causing mayhem,” Mercedes pilot George Russell said. “You go to a race in the summer and the weather’s blue skies, it’s reasonably easy for us all to predict, but when you see races like here last year … that’s when it’s exciting.”
Lightning, torrential rain and hail impacted last year’s race weekend.
In 2011, McLaren’s Jenson Button famously won the longest in F1 history in more than four hours after climbing from last to first place amid heavy downpours.
“The weather can come into play,” three-time reigning Canadian GP winner Max Verstappen said. “It can always be a very interesting Grand Prix where a lot happens.
“I like the corners, you need to ride some curbs. It feels like a bit of a go-kart style. High speeds, big braking zones as well to master, so I always enjoy it.”
Outside the track, last year’s grand prix was marked by heavy congestion, poor communication and rain flooding the paddocks.
Canadian GP organizers made several upgrades this year — including fewer road closures and new, two-story team hospitality areas — but the challenging 2024 event sparked some speculation that the Montreal race could be removed from the F1 calendar before its contract expires in 2031.
Lance Stroll, the lone Canadian on the 20-driver grid, said that would be “a shame” — and not only because it’s his home event.
“If I put that aside, it’s one of the best tracks on a Sunday,” Stroll said. “A lot of these places we go to, it’s a dictated weekend by Saturday, so no one likes watching the race in Monaco on Sunday, but we go every year.
“Saturday’s a lot of fun here, because it’s a great lap, but Sunday it can rain. I think last year we had it — you’re on dries (tires), you’re on wets, you’re back on dries. And the race is just not over until the checkered flag.”
Carlos Sainz Jr., who drives for Williams, is an ambassador for the new Madrid racetrack debuting next season. The Spanish driver said it’s important for circuits to provide character, openings for overtakes and a good show for fans.
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, he said, is a good example.
“Montreal is one of those cities we all love coming to,” he said. “You look at the track itself, it’s just long straights and short corners, but it has character, because there’s a lot of curb riding, long breakings, super tough for the drivers.
“You look at the track on a paper and it’s nothing special, but then it creates good racing, and it’s fun for us.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
