Montreal’s Ile Notre Dame island has hosted the Canadian Grand Prix since 1978. Here are all the facts and statistics you need to know about Circuit Gilles Villeneuve!
Track length: 4.361km
Race length: 305.270km
Laps: 56
Turns: 13
Circuit opened: 1978
F1 first visited: 1978
Races held: 43
Track Record: 1:10.240, Sebastian Vettel, 2019
Lap Record: 1:13.078 , Valtteri Bottas, 2019
RACE WINNERS
Since 1978, the Canadian Grand Prix has been held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on 43 occasions. The track is the third Canadian venue to have hosted the event.
In the 43 races at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve since 1978, 24 different drivers have won the race.
Schumacher and Hamilton have won the most races in Montreal
Two drivers share the record for most wins in Montreal: Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton took his seventh victory at the track in 2019.
Schumacher and Hamilton are also the only drivers to have recorded Grand Slams at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, doing so in 1994 and 2017 respectively.
There are four previous winners of the Canadian Grand Prix on the current grid. Lewis Hamilton has the most, with seven. The other previous winners are Max Verstappen – who has three wins – and Fernando Alonso, who has a single victory at the track.
Alan Jones, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are the only four drivers who have taken back-to-back wins at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Schumacher, Hamilton and Verstappen share the record for the most consecutive Montreal wins. Schumacher took three in a row between 2002 and 2004, Hamilton did the same thing between 2015 and 2017, while Verstappen has won all of the last three races in Canada.
German and British drivers are tied for the most wins for any nation, with ten each. German drivers Ralf Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel have contributed an extra three victories to Michael Schumacher’s tally of seven, while British drivers Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Jenson Button have added to Hamilton’s tally.
The longest streak of different winners at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve came between 1989 and 1996, when there were no repeat victors for eight seasons.
Ferrari have the most Canadian Grand Prix wins of any team
Ferrari have the most wins of any team with 11, having taken their first Montreal victory since 2004 at the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix.
Ferrari-powered cars have also won here more often than any other engine manufacturer.
Williams, Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes are the teams who have taken back-to-back wins at this circuit. No team have won more than three races in a row here. It’s a feat which has been achieved by Ferrari (2002-04), McLaren (2010-12), Mercedes (2015-17) and Red Bull (2022-24).
There have been 12 occasions on which a team has recorded a 1-2 finish in Montreal. Most recently, Mercedes finished with their cars in first and second place in 2017.
Four races here have been won by less than a second
The largest win margin at the track came in 1983, when Rene Arnoux was 42.029 seconds clear of the rest of the field.
The smallest win margin was in 2000, when Michael Schumacher crossed the line just 0.174 seconds ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello.
During its tenure at the circuit, the Canadian Grand Prix has been won by less ten seconds 26 times. It has been won by less than five seconds on 20 occasions, and has been won by less than a second four times – in 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2022.
The average win margin at the circuit is 10.418 seconds, though from the last ten races at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the average win margin at the Canadian Grand Prix has been 7.119 seconds.
ON THE PODIUM
Since Circuit Gilles Villeneuve began hosting the Canadian Grand Prix in 1978, 53 different drivers have finished on the podium.
Schumacher has more podiums than any other driver in Canada
Michael Schumacher has the most podiums here, with 12.
From the current grid, nine drivers have previously finished in the top three in Canada. Lewis Hamilton has the most Montreal podiums from the current field, with 10. Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen are next on the list with four. Charles Leclerc became the 50th podium finisher at the track in 2019, while Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris and George Russell also have a single podium finish at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Britain is the nation with the most podium finishes at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with 27 top three finishes – three more than Germany.
Ferrari have the most podiums of any team at the Canadian Grand Prix
Ferrari are the team with the most top three finishes. The Italian team’s tally of 34 podium finishes leaves them 13 ahead of McLaren.
There have been 14 occasions on which a team has locked-out the front row at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Mercedes were the last team to lock out the front row here, in 2016.
The polesitter has finished on the podium 28 times
The polesitter at this track has gone on to finish on the podium 28 times from the 43 races held here.
The lowest position a podium finish has come from is the pit-lane, which Rubens Barrichello achieved when driving for Ferrari in 2005.
There have been four races at this track where none of the top three on the grid have gone on to finish on the podium. It hasn’t happened since 1995.
There have been only seven occasions on which all of the top three on the grid have gone on to finish on the podium. It has happened in four of the last five races.
The top three qualifiers at the track have finished in the order they started only three times at this track. 2018 was the first time since 1979 that this has happened. It also happened in 2023.
12th on the grid is the only grid slot in the top 13 positions on the grid to have never given a podium finish at this track.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
POLESITTERS
There have been 22 different polesitters at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton have the most poles in Montreal
Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton are currently tied for the most pole positions at the circuit, with six apiece.
Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso Max Verstappen and George Russell are the only drivers present on the current grid who’ve previously taken pole here. Since 2006, Sebastian Vettel is the only other driver to have taken pole at the Canadian Grand Prix. Hamilton has six poles here, Alonso’s only pole here came in 2006, Verstappen secured pole in 2022 and 2023 and Russell claimed his first Canadian Grand Prix pole in 2024.
Nelson Piquet, Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen are the six drivers who’ve taken back-to-back poles at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
The record for most consecutive poles here is three – which Michael Schumacher, Hamilton and Vettel have all done. Hamilton has done it twice, taking three poles in a row in the three races here between 2007 and 2009, and then doing so again between 2015 and 2017.
German drivers have the most poles at this track. Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Ralf Schumacher and Nico Rosberg have all contributed to the nation’s tally of 14 starts from the front of the grid.
Three teams are tied for most poles at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Williams, McLaren and Ferrari are tied for the most team poles in Montreal, with eight each.
The most consecutive number of poles for a team at this circuit is four, which Mercedes achieved from 2014 to 2017.
Lap times here have decreased by over 25 seconds since the first race
The difference between the slowest and fastest pole laps at this track is 27.775 seconds, the slowest being Jean-Pierre Jarier’s time in 1978, and the fastest being the 2019 pole time.
The largest gap between the fastest and slowest time in a single qualifying session on the Ile Notre Dame island is 17.318 seconds, which happened in 1986. Meanwhile, the smallest difference is 2.939 seconds, which covered the whole field in qualifying for the 1997 Canadian Grand Prix.
Qualifying was a dead heat in 2024
Until 2024, the smallest pole margin at this track was 0.013 seconds in 1997. The gap was also 0.01 seconds in 1978, when the timing system only ran to two decimal places.
In qualifying for the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix, George Russell and Max Verstappen set identical lap times for pole position in Q3. Russell was awarded pole as he set his lap time first. It was the first dead heat in Formula 1 qualifying since the 1997 European Grand Prix.
The largest gap between pole and second place on the grid at the Montreal track is 1.244 seconds, which is the amount of time by which Max Verstappen secured pole at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix.
Pole has been decided by less than a tenth here on 17 occasions, including five times in the last ten Canadian Grands Prix.
Overall, the average pole margin at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is 0.275 seconds. The average from the last ten qualifying sessions at the Canadian Grand Prix is 0.306 seconds.
SATURDAY TO SUNDAY
From 43 races at the track, the Grand Prix has been won from pole 21 times.
The polesitter has finished on the podium 28 times, meaning there have been only seven occasions where the polesitter has gone on to finish on the podium without taking the win.
Races at this track have been won from the front row of the grid 29 times, meaning 14 have been won from third or further back.
The furthest back a victory at this circuit has come from is tenth on the grid. Jacques Laffite achieved this in 1981.
Just three of the past ten Canadian Grands Prix haven’t been won from pole (2014, 2019 and 2024).
There have been only nine Montreal races in which the polesitter has not led at the end of Lap 1. Since 2006, the 2016 Canadian Grand Prix is the only time this has happened.
The worst position for a Canadian Grand Prix polesitter at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve at the end of Lap 1 is third. Nelson Piquet was third at the end of the opening lap in the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix, while Jenson Button was third after Lap 1 in the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix.
SUNDAY STATISTICS
In total, there have been 2,973 racing laps held at this circuit.
From the 1,052 cars which have entered a Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 984 have qualified for races and 982 have started races. From those 982 cars, 553 have reached the chequered flag. That gives an overall finish rate of 56%.
The highest number of cars to reach the end of a race here is 20, which happened in 2012, while the fewest is five, which occurred in 1994. The highest finish rate is 90.91%, which happened in 2013, when 19 of the 22 starters reached the end of the race.
The most drivers to finish on the same lap as the winner of a race at this track is 17, which happened in 2022. The fewest is three, which has happened eight times – most recently in 2004.
Raikkonen and Schumacher share the most fastest laps
In total, 30 different drivers have set the fastest lap of the Canadian Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen have set the most Fastest Laps in a race here, coming home with the honour four times at this track throughout their careers.
Schumacher has led the most laps in Canada
Michael Schumacher holds the record for most laps led at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, having led 433 laps at the track.
25 drivers have led a lap in Montreal without ever winning the race. Nico Rosberg has led the most laps here without winning, having spent 63 laps at the front of the pack.
There have been only five occasions on which the winner of the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has led every lap of the race. It happened in 1984, 1994, 2017, 2018 and 2023.
There have been 12 occasions on which the winner of the Montreal race has not been the driver who has led the most laps of the Grand Prix. The fewest laps led en route to victory at the Canadian Grand Prix is one, with both Nelson Piquet and Jenson Button having taken the lead on the last lap at the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix and the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix respectively.
Safety Cars and Red Flags at the Canadian Grand Prix
The Safety Car has made an appearance in 16 races at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve since 1997, with 38 total deployments.
The highest number of Safety Car appearances in one race here is six, which happened in the 2011 event.
There have been six rain-affected races at this track.
There have been five red-flagged Grands Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The 1981 and 2018 Canadian Grands Prix are the only races at the circuit which have not run to their scheduled distance. The 1981 race reached the two-hour time limit due to wet weather, while the chequered flag was erroneously shown one lap early at the 2018 event. In addition, the result of the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix was declared one lap early following a fan invasion of the track. Read more: F1 races which did not reach full distance.
CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY
Alan Jones is the only driver to have been crowned World Champion at this track. Williams were also crowned Constructors’ Champions here in 1981 – that’s the last time the race was held towards the end of the championship.
Both of F1’s first visits to the Ile Notre Dame Island were for dead rubber races. Both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships had already been decided before the Canadian Grand Prix in 1978 and 1979.
The winner of the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has gone on to win the title in the same season 18 times, while the polesitter has gone on to win the title in the same year on 19 occasions.
The championship leader after the Canadian Grand Prix has gone on to win that year’s title on 28 occasions since 1978.
The last time that the team leading the Constructors’ Championship after the Canadian Grand Prix failed to win that year’s title was in 2010, when McLaren led after the Canadian round.