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The Canadian GP has been a part of the F1 calendar for a long time. The circuit Gilles Villeneuve, named after the Canadian Ferrari legend and Jacques Villeneuve's father, has witnessed many memorable moments in the sport's history.
The track, known for its long straights and narrow walls, has always produced great action for fans over the years, with some legends driving along these streets.
So much so that in this piece, we are going to sit back and take a look at some of the most memorable moments in the history of the Canadian GP.
#5 Lewis Hamilton's first-ever race win (2007 F1 Canadian GP)
One of the underrated aspects of Lewis Hamilton's career is what could achieve in his debut season. The British driver joined McLaren as a rookie and a teammate to Fernando Alonso in 2007. He took on the challenge of the reigning two-time world champion and was quickly anointed as a title contender.
Despite a strong run in the races in his debut season, Hamilton had been unable to stake his claim at the top of the podium. It all changed when the F1 circus reached Montréal. In his debut race in Canada, Hamilton was in a league of his own. He scored pole position with Alonso alongside him on the front row.
In a race of high attrition, Hamilton did not waver and picked up the first win of his F1 career. A win that would start a run where the British legend now has more than 100 wins in his career.
#4 The wall of champions! (1999 F1 Canadian GP)
The 1999 F1 Canadian GP will go down in history as one of the most memorable races as it was here that the famous "wall of champions" was christened.
In 1999, Michael Schumacher was caught up in an intense battle with Mika Hakkinen. As the F1 circus reached Canada, the intensity was as high as ever. What happened during the race, however, was something that got etched in history.
It started with the 1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill. On Lap 15, the Briton came around the final corner at Turn 13, lost the rear, and crashed into the wall which broke his suspension and ended his race.
The second driver to misjudge the final corner was none other than Michael Schumacher. While leading the race on Lap 30, Schumacher's car went into the curb a bit too much and ended up smashing into the wall. If two world champions crashing in the same corner was not enough, Jacques Villeneuve followed suit and crashed his BAR into the same spot on Lap 35.
It was at this point that the name 'wall of champions' was christened for the spot just after Turn 13.
#3 Lewis Hamilton crashes in the pitlane (2008 F1 Canadian GP)
In a career that's spanned more than a decade, Lewis Hamilton has had his fair share of clumsy moments while driving. None, however, were as clumsy as Hamilton crashing into the back of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari in the pitlane.
To set the context, in 2008, there were specific regulations on when cars can enter the pits during a safety car period. During that phase of the race, Hamilton was behind Raikkonen and entered the pits concurrent to the Ferrari driver.
As soon as Raikkonen was on his way to exit the pitlane, the lights in the pitlane turned red. The Finn stopped his car at the pit exit but Hamilton, unaware of the red light, ran into the back of the Ferrari.
Both drivers retired from the race due to the clash, with Hamilton blaming the lights as he claimed he could not see them.
#2 Sebastian Vettel protests race-changing penalty, in his own way (2019 F1 Canadian GP)
In the eyes of many, this was the race where Sebastian Vettel's shoulder finally dropped at Ferrari. Vettel was coming off two failed championship campaigns where, after putting together a strong fight at the start of the season, the campaigns had just fallen away.
The 2019 season's writing was already on the wall, with Mercedes winning every race that season. Canada’s long straights aided Ferrari's strengths as Vettel scored pole position over Lewis Hamilton and what followed was a classic battle between the two world champions.
Mercedes had an overall better package than Ferrari, with Hamilton pressuring Vettel all along. What followed was a mistake by Vettel on Lap 48 where the rear end of the Ferrari stepped out at Turn 3 and the German was forced to take a trip through the grass. As he returned to the track, Vettel and Hamilton just managed to avoid a collision. Vettel, however, was penalized with a 5-second time penalty for joining the track in an unsafe manner and Lewis Hamilton was handed the win. What followed was a furious Ferrari driver in parc fermé switching the #1 board from the Mercedes to where his car should have been.
The result was protested, but except for the controversy, not much happened to change the result, and the protest was declined.
#1 Jenson Button wins after pitting 6 times (2011 F1 Canadian GP)
Arguably the greatest Canadian GP featured Jenson Button crashing into his teammate, crashing again into Fernando Alonso, suffering a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane, suffering a puncture, making a total of six trips to the pits, and still winning the race.
The 2011 F1 Canadian GP was a race heavily delayed and compromised by rain. The race ran for more than the official 4-hour period and featured multiple safety car period car periods and safety car restarts.
Button cut down an overall 47 seconds gap at one point to Sebastian Vettel to win the race as he scythed through the field one by one and on the last lap of the race forced Vettel into a mistake. There aren't many races that are as topsy-turvy as this one, and because of that, this takes the cake over anything else that has happened in any of the other Canadian GPs over the years.
