Circuit Gilles Villeneuve: The Ultimate Track Guide

A wet weekend in Montreal – but a dry race – saw Max Verstappen claim Red Bull’s 100^th Formula 1 victory.

There were only five minutes of running in Free Practice 1 at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix due to CCTV issues, which led to second practice being extended by 30 minutes. The latter session came to an early end due to heavy rain and there was further rain on Saturday morning.

The rain persisted into qualifying, with the circuit beginning to dry during Q2 – changing weather conditions which saw Williams’ Alex Albon setting the fastest lap time. While Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc missed out on spots in Q3 due to the conditions, further rain fell during Q3. On a track which was becoming wetter by the second, Max Verstappen was first to set a lap time in the final session and remained on the top spot to secure pole position.

Oscar Piastri crashed out in Q3 which brought out the red flags just seconds after Nico Hulkenberg put in an impressive effort in the Haas to set the second fastest lap time – though he dropped down three places on the final grid for a red flag infringement. Also penalised were Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda, who were all found guilty of impeding other drivers.

The skies were clear for Sunday’s race where, for the second year in a row, Fernando Alonso started alongside Max Verstappen on the front row. Verstappen kept his lead at the start, while Lewis Hamilton overtook Alonso for second place. At the end of the first lap, the battling Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz were lucky to not be taken out by Kevin Magnussen who could not slow his Haas in time for the final chicane.

While Logan Sargeant was an early retirement from the race, Oscar Piastri made up a place with a fine overtake on Nico Hulkenberg for sixth place. On Lap 12, George Russell made contact with the wall and although he was able to keep going, the Safety Car was called due to debris on track. Russell would later retire from the race with brake wear.

The Safety Car period led to the frontrunners pitting, with Alonso and Hamilton emerging from their pit boxes side by side. Hamilton stayed ahead – but the duo later went wheel to wheel on Lap 21, with Alonso getting ahead of the Mercedes at the end of the lap.

Kevin Magnussen and Nyck de Vries were another duo going side by side, with their dicing ending with both going off track at Turn 3. Lando Norris’ favoured overtaking spot of the afternoon was the hairpin, where he overtook Valtteri Bottas for ninth place in the closing stages. He then attempted a last corner overtake on Esteban Ocon but was unsuccessful. Norris’ efforts were ultimately fruitless, with him dropping to 13^th in the final order after receiving a 5-second time penalty for unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Despite a hairy moment where he rode a kerb and nearly ended his race in the barrier, Verstappen clung on to claim victory at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix by ten seconds from Alonso and Hamilton. Verstappen’s victory marked Red Bull’s 100^th Grand Prix win in Formula 1.

Following a chaotic wet qualifying session, Verstappen took pole position and won the race in the dry on Sunday – despite coming under immense pressure from Sainz in the closing stages. 

Following two dry practice sessions on Friday, the heavens opened on Saturday meaning both Free Practice 3 and qualifying were run in wet conditions. The conditions proved to be tricky for some, with Alex Albon and Sergio Perez making contact with the barriers in Q2, the latter incident bringing out the red flags. It was Perez’s team-mate Max Verstappen who secured pole position. Fernando Alonso set the fastest time in final practice and impressed again in qualifying, lining up on the front row of the grid. 

Verstappen was unchallenged at the start of the race, while Alonso came under pressure from third-starting Carlos Sainz. Perez’s bad weekend continued as his engine cut out just eight laps into the race, bringing out a Virtual Safety Car. His team-mate took advantage of the caution period to make a pit stop, as did Lewis Hamilton. 

Mick Schumacher came to a halt on Lap 21 at the same spot as Perez had done 13 laps earlier. Hamilton’s fresher tyres aided him to scythe through the field to third place, while Verstappen made a second stop and came out alongside the Mercedes. Hamilton briefly ran second, but was soon overtaken by the Red Bull.

Yuki Tsunoda embarrassingly crashed just after exiting the pit lane on cold tyres, prompting a Safety Car period. The timing of the Safety Car worked in Sainz’s favour, who was yet to pit for fresh tyres. He emerged from the pit lane behind Verstappen but had fresher tyres to attack in the closing stages. 

The green flag flew on Lap 55 of 70, as Sainz set about chasing Verstappen. On the other side of the Ferrari garage, Charles Leclerc started from the back of the field following a power unit penalty but a string of overtakes throughout the race saw him eventually finish in the top five. Ahead of him, Sainz was unable to overtake Verstappen, finishing under a second behind the Red Bull. Hamilton completed the podium places.

Controversy reigned in Canada in 2019 as Sebastian Vettel crossed the line first but the win was awarded to Lewis Hamilton following a time penalty for the Ferrari driver.

A crash at the end of Q2 for Kevin Magnussen compromised the Haas team’s afternoon, as Romain Grosjean was unable to complete his final lap. The red flag also led to Max Verstappen being eliminated in Q2. Sebastian Vettel took his first pole position of the season by lapping two tenths faster than Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel stayed ahead in a relatively drama-free opening lap, aside from for Alex Albon, who lost his front wing following contact with an Alfa Romeo. Lando Norris became the first retirement with a rear brake issue, leading to a suspension failure.

The Renault drivers had a strong race, with Daniel Ricciardo defending hard from Valtteri Bottas for fifth place.

Vettel came under increasing pressure from Hamilton as the midpoint of the race passed. On Lap 48, he ran wide and re-joined the track right in front of the Mercedes. His contentious re-entry on to the track led to him receiving a five second penalty. Meanwhile, further back, Guenther Steiner was unimpressed with Magnussen labelling his day as “the worst experience I’ve ever had in any race car ever”.

Vettel crossed the line first, but the win was given to Hamilton. Charles Leclerc finished on the final step of the podium. Vettel failed to return his car to parc-ferme, instead swapping the number boards and placing the number one in the empty space where his car should have been. Ferrari appealed the penalty, but the result stood following the team’s lack of new evidence.