Memorable Canada: Part 1

Legend on home soil

To be frank, Gilles Villeneuve‘s driving was never less than spectacular but what he did during the 1982 race must definitely be considered stuff of legends.While running in 3rd, he broke his front wing which stayed on the car in a cockeyed position almost completely blocking the view of the driver. Most would come in for a replacement but after all this is the same driver who continued to race on 3 wheels just trying to keep his championship hopes alive a few years earlier. This time around he completed several laps in that fashion- mind you in treacherous conditions on a slippery track- until finally the front wing broke off. He finished the race still in 3rd.

Salut Gilles

Canada lost its star driver in 1982 at Zolder, Belgium. As a show of respect, the organising authorities renamed the Montreal track as Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and “Salut Gilles” was written at the start/finish line the same year.

A first for brothers

When Ralf Schumacher won the race in 2001 ahead of his elder brother, they created a new record. It was the first time that brothers had finished 1-2 in the history of the sport.

Takuma ‘super’ Sato

The 2007 race was one of the best races for backmarkers Super Aguri when both their drivers were in the running for championship points for the first time. But when Takuma Sato in the Super Aguri overtook double world champion Fernando Alonso in a McLaren everybody was left dumbstruck. More surprisingly, Sato was able to hold on and ultimately finished ahead of the Spaniard.

Groundhogs take to the race track

Two times during the 2007 Grand Prix weekend, groundhogs affected normal running. Anthony Davidson’s encounter with one during the race forced him to pit for a new front wing and thus dropped from a strong 3rd to 11th at the finish.

The one with the wooden eye

In one of the most idiotic collisions ever, Lewis Hamilton crashed into the back of a stationary Kimi Raikkonen at the exit of the pitlane (there was a red light at the end of the pitlane) in the 2008 race. That prompted Raikkonen to label the Englishman as “wooden-eyed”. That unnecessary incident provided a golden opportunity for BMW and they took full advantage of it by finishing a memorable 1-2 with Robert Kubica ahead of Nick Heidfeld.

Last to first

The 2011 Canadian Grand Prix was one of the most memorable races ever. Mastering the changing conditions for a mammoth 4 hours and 4 minutes- the longest race ever- Jenson Button came from dead last to taking the lead dramatically on the last lap having pitted 6 times during the race.

Next time we would look into the more contentious and unfortunate incidents that have occurred during the past Canadian Grand Prix weekends. Watch this space.

You can read part two of the article here: Memorable Canada: Part 2