Born from a centennial party (1967)
The Canadian Grand Prix didn’t begin as a Montreal story. It began at Mosport Park, a fast, rolling road course an hour east of Toronto, on August 27, 1967. The FIA had sanctioned a Formula 1 round to mark Canada’s 100th birthday, and the Canadian Racing Drivers’ Association teamed up with Imperial Tobacco to make it happen.
Jim Clark set a record pole for Lotus, but Sunday belonged to Jack Brabham, who took his Brabham-Repco to victory in mixed conditions. A reluctant cameo, perhaps — the race wasn’t even on the 1968 calendar — but the door had been opened.
The wandering years (1968–1977)
Through the 1970s the race bounced between Mosport and Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant in Québec. Mont-Tremblant hosted in 1968 and 1970; Mosport got the rest. A financial dispute between the Ontario track and the Formula One Constructors’ Association killed the 1975 edition altogether.
By 1977, Mosport’s rolling topography and limited run-off were becoming a problem. Ian Ashley’s terrifying flip into a TV camera tower during practice that year sealed it. Combined with Labatt’s growing concern that a major international race was being staged an hour from the nearest big-city hotels, the writing was on the wall.
A new home, a homegrown hero (1978)
In October 1978, the Canadian Grand Prix arrived on Île Notre-Dame, a man-made island in the St. Lawrence built for Expo 67. The 4.361 km Circuit Île Notre-Dame would, against the odds, become the longest-serving home of any non-European Grand Prix.
The inaugural race produced a script no Hollywood writer would dare submit: Gilles Villeneuve, the new Ferrari signing from nearby Berthierville, won his first ever Formula 1 race in front of his own people. He remains the only Canadian to ever win his home Grand Prix.
A name carved by tragedy (1982)
Villeneuve died in qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder. He was 32. Later that year the circuit was renamed in his honour, and from 1982 onwards the race shifted to its now-familiar mid-June slot. Every year, just before the start-finish line, the tarmac is repainted with two words a Montreal fan brushed there in the days after Gilles’ death: “Salut Gilles.”
The Schumacher decade
Michael Schumacher loved this place. From his first Montreal win in 1994 with Benetton to his last with Ferrari in 2004, he piled up seven victories, including three in a row from 2002 to 2004. His 1994 win is one of only two Grand Slams (pole, win, fastest lap, every lap led) ever recorded at the circuit.
That decade also gave us Jean Alesi’s emotional 1995 triumph — his one and only Formula 1 victory, fittingly in a Ferrari, on his 31st birthday.
The Wall earns its name (1999)
Turn 14 was just a final-chicane wall until June 13, 1999. That afternoon, three reigning or former World Champions slammed into the same concrete on the same afternoon: Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, along with Ricardo Zonta. The ad behind the wall read “Bienvenue au Québec.” The nickname stuck before anyone had loaded the cars back onto trucks. Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button and George Russell have all paid their respects to it since.
Hamilton’s house (2007–2019)
Lewis Hamilton’s relationship with Montreal began with his first ever pole and his first ever Grand Prix win, six races into his rookie season, in 2007. He returned to win in 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 — seven in total, level with Schumacher at the top of the all-time list.
In between, the circuit produced a stream of breakthrough victories: Robert Kubica’s 2008 win for BMW Sauber (still the team’s only F1 victory), Daniel Ricciardo’s first Grand Prix in 2014, and the race that refuses to be forgotten — the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix.
The longest race ever (2011)
Heavy rain. Multiple safety cars. A two-hour-plus red flag. Jenson Button hit by his own team-mate Hamilton, then a Fernando Alonso puncture, then he was dead last — and yet he came back through the field to win on the final lap as Vettel slid wide. Total elapsed time: 4 hours, 4 minutes, 39 seconds. It remains the longest race in Formula 1 history.
The Verstappen years and a Mercedes comeback (2022–2025)
After a two-year COVID hiatus, Max Verstappen and Red Bull arrived in dominant form, winning three in a row from 2022 to 2024. Then, in 2025, George Russell broke the streak in style: pole, fastest lap, victory, and a maiden podium for 18-year-old team-mate Kimi Antonelli, the third-youngest podium finisher in F1 history. The race ended behind the safety car after Lando Norris drove into the back of team-mate Oscar Piastri three laps from the flag.
It was also the day Lewis Hamilton ran over a groundhog and damaged his Ferrari’s floor — a uniquely Montreal kind of misfortune.
What to know before May 22–24
Fifty-five Canadian Grands Prix. Three tracks. One legendary family name above the gates. Schumacher and Hamilton level on seven wins. McLaren leading the constructor count. A wall that has eaten champions and rookies alike, and a final chicane that still rewards bravery more than physics.
Round 5 of the 2026 season begins on Friday, May 22. Expect rain, expect a safety car, and expect something you weren’t quite expecting. Montreal almost always delivers.
Canadian Grand Prix: by the numbers
Most wins (driver) — Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, 7 each (Schumacher: 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 · Hamilton: 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019)
Most pole positions (driver) — Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, 6 each
Most podiums (driver) — Michael Schumacher, 12 (Hamilton, 10, leads all active drivers)
Most wins (constructor) — McLaren, 13 · Ferrari, 11 · Williams, 7 · Mercedes, 5 · Red Bull, 5
Most consecutive wins — Three in a row, shared by Schumacher (2002–04), Hamilton (2015–17) and Max Verstappen (2022–24)
Grand Slams (pole, win, fastest lap, every lap led) — Only two in the history of the race: Schumacher in 1994 and Hamilton in 2017
Outright lap record — Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 1:13.078 (2019)
Editions raced — 55 (with the 2026 running) · 8 at Mosport, 2 at Mont-Tremblant, 45 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Maiden F1 winners in Montreal — Gilles Villeneuve (1978), Thierry Boutsen (1989), Jean Alesi (1995, his only F1 win), Lewis Hamilton (2007), Robert Kubica (2008, BMW Sauber’s only F1 win), Daniel Ricciardo (2014)
Notable firsts — Hamilton’s maiden F1 pole and maiden F1 victory came on the same weekend here, in 2007
Wins from pole position — 25 of 54 races (~46%)
Last winner — George Russell (Mercedes), 2025, from pole, with team-mate Kimi Antonelli completing a maiden podium in third