Five things you may not know about the Canadian Grand Prix: Schumacher bros, groundhogs and more
- Harry Whitfield
- 12 June 2023
The Canadian Grand Prix is set for its 58th running in F1 history on Sunday. Planet Sport checks out some facts you might not know about the race.
The Formula 1 paddock heads to Montreal this weekend for round eight of the 2023 season.
Max Verstappen holds a comfortable lead in the championship with a 53-point advantage over his team-mate Sergio Perez.
Last year the Dutchman took his first victory at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, beating the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz to first place.
Here are some facts about the Canadian Grand Prix you might not know.
Driver disqualified for being too slow
Victor 'Al' Pease was a British-Canadian motor racing driver and he is the only competitor in F1 to be disqualified from a World Championship race for being too slow.
At the 1969 Canadian Grand Prix he was black-flagged after a series of on-track incidents, the last involving Matra driver Jackie Stewart.
Matra owner Ken Tyrrell protested to the officials that Pease had to be disqualified as the British-Canadian driver had only completed 22 laps in an uncompetitive car while the leaders had finished 46.
His Formula One career was limited to just three Canadian Grands Prix, consisting of a non-classification in 1967 finishing 43 laps behind the leaders, a failure to start due to engine trouble the following year and the disqualification in 1969.
The race is held on an island built for Expo 67
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was built on the man-made artificial island called the Notre Dame Island.
In 1978, the circuit was built but was known as the Circuit Île Notre-Dame until 1982 when the circuit was named in honour of their home hero Gilles Villeneuve after his death.
However, the island was built for the 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67.
Expo 67 was Canada's main celebration during its centennial year and the artificial island was built for the celebrations.
Since the world fair took place many of the remaining Expo 67 pavilions were demolished in 1975 to make way for a long rowing and canoeing basin for Montreal's 1976 Summer Olympics.
Years after Expo 67, the island has been filled with plants and trees to make it look less artificial.
First race where siblings finished P1 and P2
In 2001, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher was aiming for his fourth drivers' title and at the eighth round he had a 52-point lead over McLaren's David Coulthard with nine races to go.
The German was on pole for the Grand Prix and his younger brother Ralf Schumacher lined up alongside him on the front row.
Michael led for most of the Grand Prix but Ralf kept clawing back any distance his brother put between them.
Ralf gained the lead through the pit stop phase when Michael pitted on lap 46 and he pitted five laps later, emerging six seconds in the lead.
The race finished with Ralf taking the victory and his brother Michael coming home in second to mark the first time in F1 history that two siblings had finished in first and second at the same race.
City officials move native groundhogs away from island before race weekend
The Canadian Grand Prix is known for many things including the native groundhog, which has been spotted many times scurrying across the race track on a Grand Prix weekend.
In 2007, Anthony Davidson had been running in the points when he hit a groundhog, forcing him to pit and repair the damage to his front wing.
There have been various other incidents involving the native creatures of the island.
To avoid and prevent less incidents the FIA and local authorities fill up any holes they dig to get into the circuit and block off any entrances on a race weekend.
They also move as many as they can find away from the island onto a nearby island called Île Ste-Helene to keep them safe.
Despite this, many drivers and fans have hit out at the FIA for not doing enough.
In 2018, Romain Grosjean criticised officials after he hit a groundhog during practice and said more could have been done to catch the groundhog.
However, the FIA explained that they were doing all they can and it was inevitable that a few groundhogs would make their way onto the circuit.
Gilles Villeneuve finishing third despite front wing blocking his vision
The Canadian motor-racing legend managed six wins over his career including his first win at his home race in 1978.
A fan favourite, Villeneuve was adored by many fans for his talent and his abilties were put to test in the 1981 season.
Ferrari introduced their first turbocharged engined F1 car, the 126C, for Villeneuve to drive.
The car was very fast down the straights but was hard to handle compared to rival cars.
In the early laps of the 1981 Canadian Grand Prix, Villeneuve damaged his front wing after various collisions.
The front wing was mangled to the point where it pointed upwards blocking his vision facing forward.
To make matters worse conditions were appalling as torrential rain fell down for most of the race.
Using his excellent peripheral vision, Villeneuve managed to keep the car on track until he could dislodge the front wing off his car.
Once it fell off he nursed the car home for a rather incredible P3 finish at his home race after starting from P11 on the grid.
