Gilles Villeneuve

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is on Notre Dame Island, an artificial island in the St Lawrence River in Montreal, in the province of Quebec. Most of the island was built up for Expo 67, and the Biosphere stands beside the track. Almost half of the lap, from the hairpin to beyond the pit area, runs along the Olympic Basin, which was built for the rowing and canoeing competitions at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The circuit lies within Parc Jean-Drapeau and is open to visitors between race weekends. It now measures 4.361 km, has 14 corners and is driven clockwise.

It was built in 1978 as the Île Notre-Dame Circuit. Before that, the Canadian Grand Prix had been held eight times at Mosport Park near Toronto, and in 1968 and 1970 at Mont-Tremblant. Because of safety concerns at Mosport in 1977, the race was moved to Montreal. The first World Championship race there was won in 1978 by Canadian Gilles Villeneuve for Ferrari. In 1982 the circuit was named after him following his death earlier that year. He was the father of Jacques Villeneuve. The same year the date moved from late September to mid-June. The Canadian Grand Prix was not held in 1987, nor in 2009, 2020 or 2021. In 2026 Kimi Antonelli won for Mercedes. Michael Schumacher won here seven times between 1994 and 2004.

Early on, the lap was built around tight chicanes and moderate speeds. Over time it became a power circuit that puts a premium on straight-line speed. In the races of 1986 and 1988 the pit lane and start-finish straight were at the exit of the final chicane rather than at the hairpin. After the fatal accidents at Imola, a chicane was added between the Casino corner and the hairpin in 1994. In 1996 it was removed along with the Casino corner. In 2002 the pit lane exit was altered, which shortened the lap. In 2017 extra Tecpro barriers were installed and the angle of the final chicane exit was changed. The hairpin (Turn 10) is an overtaking spot. The wall at the exit of the final chicane has been called the Wall of Champions since 1999, when three world champions crashed there.