Canadian Grand Prix

The Canadian Grand Prix (known in its native French as the Grand Prix du Canada) is a Formula One auto race held in Canada since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario and alternated between Mosport and Mont Tremblant near Saint-Jovite, Quebec until 1971 when safety concerns lead to the Grand Prix moving permanently to Mosport. In 1978 the Canadian Grand Prix moved to its current home on Ile Notre-Dame in Montreal.

Related Topics:
French - Formula One - Auto race - Canada - 1967 - Bowmanville, Ontario - Saint-Jovite, Quebec - 1971 - 1978 - Ile Notre-Dame - Montreal

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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.

Related Topics:
Quebec - Gilles Villeneuve - 1982 - Belgian Grand Prix - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

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The 1982 Canadian Grand Prix, already dreary because of the death of Villeneuve a month earlier, saw another horrific accident when Villeneuve's teammate Didier Pironi stalled on the grid. Raul Boesel clipped the stationary car, and Riccardo Paletti then slammed into the back 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 died from his injuries.

Related Topics:
1982 - Didier Pironi - Raul Boesel - Riccardo Paletti - Sid Watkins

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The 1997 Canadian Grand Prix was stopped early due to a huge accident involving Olivier Panis. Panis spun off and broke his legs. He was sidelined for nine races and some see it, unfortunately for Panis, as a turning point in the career of the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix winner.

Related Topics:
1997 - Olivier Panis - 1996 - Monaco Grand Prix

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In 1999, the final corner of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve became well-known for catching out former World Champions. Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve all crashed into the same wall which had the slogan Welcome to Quebec on it. The wall became affectionately known as the "Wall of champions". The wall also caught out Ricardo Zonta, who, at the time, was a reigning sports car champion.

Related Topics:
1999 - World Champions - Damon Hill - Michael Schumacher - Jacques Villeneuve - Ricardo Zonta - Sports car

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Because of tobacco legislation, new venues, and a maximum of 17 races on the schedule, the Canadian Grand Prix was preliminarily 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.

Related Topics:
Tobacco - 2004

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