- Formula 1 returns to Canada for the next race on the jampacked calendar.
- It is the first time since 2019 that the sport returns to Montreal for another running around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
- Three standout races of the event came in 2007, 2008, and 2011.
For the first time since 2019, Formula 1 returns to Montréal, Canada, for another race around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The race has been omitted from the calendar for two seasons because of Covid-19, but makes its much-anticipated return in 2022.
Over the years, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve hosted several classic races, making the race a must-watch for F1 fans.
Without going too deep into the F1 archives, here are three Canadian Grands Prix that will always be etched in our memories.
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2007: Lewis Hamilton's first win
2007 was Lewis Hamilton's first season in F1. Arriving hot off his GP2 (now Formula 2) championship-winning drive, the driver was partnered with 2005/6 champion Fernando Alonso at McLaren-Mercedes. Though the season didn't go entirely to plan for the team when they signed both a champion and a rookie, Hamilton showed that he deserves to be in the sport.
In the season's opening five races, Hamilton appeared on each one's podium. It gave the idea that winning his first race is not a matter of if, but when. And it would come at the sixth race of the season, the Canadian Grand Prix.
Starting on pole, Hamilton would keep the race's lead going into the first sequence on corners and then for large parts of the race. He never looked uneasy or uncomfortable, keeping a cool and level head as he took his first win ahead of Sauber-BMW's Nick Heidfeld. Hamilton and Alonso would finish the 2007 tied on 109 points, one behind that year's champion, Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari.
2008: Robert Kubica's redemption
The 2007 race in Canada is remembered for two things: Hamilton's win and Robert Kubica's life-threatening crash. Coming out of Turn 9 and making his way to the hairpin (Turn 10), an on-track incident with Toyota's Jarno Trulli sent the Sauber-BMW crashing into the barricades before the wreckage came to a stop. As a sign of the safety advancements in F1, the Polish driver walked away unscathed.
One would think that an impact like that would have you rethink your life, but Kubica only missed the US GP (replaced by Sebastian Vettel) before returning for the French GP. In 2008, he returned to Canada, where he qualified second behind Hamilton and would soon be in contention for the win after a pitlane incident saw the McLaren-Mercedes driver drive into the rear of Raikkonen's Ferrari, retiring both from the race.
Kubica would redeem himself for the crash that could have taken his life just a year before. The win was his first and only in F1 and the sole for a Polish driver.
2011: Jenson Button, from last to first in the rain
Jenson Button had a horrendous experience at the 2011 edition of the race. Well, it depends on how you look at 'horrendous'. Having started in seventh place, it would always have been an uphill battle for the Brit to have a say in the race's outcome. But the rain and unpredictable strategies meant that the outcome could go anyone's way - provided a team and driver get it right.
But for Button and McLaren-Mercedes, the race would get a whole lot worse before it could get better. The drama started on Lap 8 of 70 when Button and teammate Hamilton made contact crossing the start/finish line. Hamilton would retire from the race while Button was relegated to the back of the grid and his race strategy up in the air. Button would eventually pit four times in the race and endure a drive-through penalty before, somehow, finding himself in second place and chasing down Vettel (now racing for Red Bull Racing) for the win.
On the final lap and being mere seconds behind Vettel, the Red Bull driver made a mistake going into Turn 6, gifting the race's lead and win to Button.
The 2011 Canadian GP was one of the most eventful in the race's 50-year history, but definitely the finest of Button's racing career.
