Canadian Grand Prix statistics

The Montreal circuit is a classic meeting of the F1 for over 30 years. If the first editions of the Canadian Grand Prix were contested at Mosport Park and Mont-Tremblant (victory for Jack Brabham for the first edition in 1967), the circuit renamed Gilles Villeneuve established itself in the discipline in 1978 and did not was absent from the calendar only twice (in 1987 and 2009). McLaren was the most victorious team in this event with 13 victories to its credit, the Team Ferrari next with 11 successes. As for the pilots, Michael Schumacher was the biggest winner of the event since he has seven victories to his name (1997, 1998, 2000, and from 2002 to 2004). Lewis Hamilton will be the only one on track this weekend to have won several times (2007, 2010 and 2012). Kimi Räikkönen (2005), Fernando Alonso (2006) and Jenson Button (2011) are the only other Canadian GP winners still in F1.

While drivers always approach qualifying with importance, the qualifying session should be less crucial than in Monaco, with the Gilles Villeneuve circuit offering more overtaking opportunities. The pole-sitter has only won four times in the last 12 editions (eight times from the first row of the grid). Jenson Button made the greatest comeback in 2011 by winning the race despite finding himself in last position. No driver has won by starting beyond the fifth row, Jacques Laffite nevertheless managed to win in 1981 starting from tenth row. The Montreal circuit took the name of Gilles Villeneuve in homage to the Canadian who won his first success there in 1978.