Canada Track Preview
- therookiereporters
- 8 hours ago
- 2 min read
From our sunshine state to a snowy city we head up north for the Canadian Grand Prix. The Circuit Gilles-Villenueve is home to the infamous groundhogs, who get a front row seat for the Grand Prix, but also our champions wall out of the final corner. With expected sunshine for the Grand Prix weekend it’s looking like a great action packed weekend with Formula and F1 Academy being the supporting series.
Track Facts
The first race took place in 1978 and gives us 305.27km or 70 laps of side-by-side battles. One lap is 4.361km with the fastest record time around the track being a 1:13.078s by none other than Valtteri Bottas in 2019.
2025 Recap
Last year our polesitter was George Russell who converted it into his first race win of the 2025 season having held off reigning world champion Max Verstappen. Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli made history becoming the third youngest podium finisher in the sport having placed third at just 18 years old. McLaren who had been dominating the first rounds of the season were far off the pace and in all sorts of mayhem with the teammates colliding. This caused Lando Norris to DNF and Oscar Piastri some minor damage but still a points finishing position which extended his championship lead.
Weekend Schedule (track time)
Free Practice 1:
Friday 22nd May 12:30 - 13:30
Sprint Qualifying:
Friday 22nd May 16:30 - 17:14
Sprint:
Saturday 23rd May 12:00 - 13:00
Qualifying:
Saturday 23rd May 16:00 - 17:00
Grand Prix:
Sunday 24th May 16:00 - 18:00
2026 Expectations
With Mercedes dominating the start of this season and Kimi Antonelli becoming the first driver to get 3 back-to-back pole-win conversions, could we see the young Italian extend this record? Ferrari are still Mercedes most consistent opponent but with a difficult result in Miami placing P6 and P8 is this the start of slippery down-hill slope or a comeback loading? McLaren were the closest contenders for the Miami Grand Prix win with Lando Norris placing 2nd just 3 seconds behind Antonelli and Piastri in third. Can our reigning world champion and constructors’ champion be in the winning mix out in Montreal? We will have to wait and see for lights out at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Article written by Alice Seager ©️Alice Seager 2026
