In 2019, Hamilton took his seventh win at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to equal the record held by Michael Schumacher. Lewis Hamilton has by far the most impressive record of any current driver in Canada. Hamilton Closing in on Schumacher’s Record One year earlier, Kubica had survived a horror crash during the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, escaping with minor injuries. It was the first and only F1 win to date by a Polish driver and the only win for the BMW Sauber team, who competed in the sport from 2006-2009. Thirteen years later, Robert Kubica won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix for BMW Sauber. It was also notable for being the last F1 victory scored by a V12 powered car. The win was popular with local fans, as Alesi was driving the number 27 Ferrari, the same driven by Gilles Villeneuve. The French driver scored 32 podiums but just one race win in his 13-year career. Jean Alesi scored the only win of his 202-race career in the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix. In addition to Gilles Villeneuve in 1978, other drivers to have stood on the top step for the first time in Canada are Thierry Boutsen (1989), Jean Alesi (1995), Lewis Hamilton (2007), Robert Kubica (2008) and Daniel Ricciardo (2014). Six drivers have scored their maiden F1 victory at Circuit Gilles Villeneueve. When F1 arrived in Montréal for the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix just one month later, the circuit had already been named in his honor, complete with “Salut Gilles” written in the tarmac on the start-finish line. Tragically, Villeneuve was killed during qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix.

Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve won the hearts of locals when he triumphed in the first Canadian Grand Prix at the Île Notre-Dame Circuit, located on a man-made island in the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

In the early years, the race alternated between Mosport Park and Circuit Mont-Tremblant before safety concerns prompted the event’s move to a new home in Montréal. The first Canadian Grand Prix was held at Mosport Park in 1961, but the event didn’t achieve Championship status until 1967. Here’s some interesting, and unusual, facts about Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. A near-constant presence on the Formula 1 calendar for more than 40 years, the Canadian Grand Prix in Montréal is renowned for delivering close racing and surprise results.

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