Since it appears nobody is taking this one, I will make an attempt. It is a race I have attended a few times. My favorite grandstand is the exit side of the hairpin.
It is 70 laps around the high speed, 14 turn, 4.361km (2.7miles) circuit. The first Grand Prix run on this circuit was in 1978. The lap record was set by Rubens Barricello in 2002 (Ferrari), at 1:13.622. The biggest winner here was Michael Schumacher with seven wins. No other track has a "Wall of Champions" that has claimed many victims over the years. Current field drivers who have won it is very short. I think Lewis is the only one on the list with three wins.
The race has had a very good history of exciting races. A few of the eventful things that come to mind:
The circuit, named after Gilles Villeneuve, who was killed in 1982 on his final qualifying lap for the Belgian Grand Prix. He is also the only Canadian to have won this race.
Ferrari's Jean Alesi won the 1995 edition, which occurred on his 31st birthday and which would be the only win of his career. Alesi had inherited the lead when Michael Schumacher pitted with electrical problems and Damon Hill's hydraulics failed. The victory was a popular one for Alesi, particularly after several unrewarded drives the year before, namely in Italy. Alesi's win at Montreal was voted the most popular race victory of the season by many, as it was the number 27 Ferrari—once belonging to the famous Gilles Villeneuve at his much loved home Grand Prix. Schumacher gave Alesi a lift back to the pits after Alesi's car ran out of fuel just before the Pits Hairpin.
The 2007 race was the site of rookie Lewis Hamilton's first win. On lap 67, Takuma Sato overtook McLaren-Mercedes's Fernando Alonso, to cheers around the circuit, just after overtaking Ralf Schumacher and having overtaken Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen earlier in the race. The race saw Sato move from the middle of the grid to the back of the pack and to a high of fifth before a pit-stop error caused him to move back to eleventh. Sato fought up 5 places in the field in the last 15 laps to finish sixth. Sato was voted "Driver of the Day." I am not positive, but I think that was the year Kubica crash approaching the hairpin. I was sitting in the stands - happened right in front of us - very scary.
The 2011 Canadian Grand Prix became the longest ever Formula One race to date; rainstorms delayed the race for hours; but when it got going again Button stormed through the field from last place after the restart on lap 41 and caught Sebastian Vettel; whom he forced into making a mistake, passed the Red Bull driver and the Briton took victory.
I can't recall the year, but well remember Hamilton rear-ending Kimi at the pit out. It may have been the same year, but I don't think so, that Massa had a fair shot at a podium, but due to something I can't recall exactly about a pit stop and safety car (I think) lost almost all he had worked for.
Last year is on the list too for the battling Mercedes running out of brakes - Hamilton unable to slow for the final chicane and handing all of the marbles to Nico. Massa was running them down with good tires until Perez braked early and perhaps a bit off-line attempting a futile block on the Williams that resulted in both he and Massa having a DNF instead of some points. This is a very good analysis of that crash based on telemetry:
I always look forward to this race - ALWAYS
In another topic, the question of fuel flow regs - will they help or hinder, and which teams would benefit from this?
Williams is likely to look better here because it is more high speed, which is something they are very good at, but will it be enough to catch Ferrari and put the Red Bulls in the back seat?
Ferrari has shown great improvement since the season opener so one must be curious as to whether or not they will continue to close the gap to the Mercs on a circuit which truly suits the Mercedes power unit?
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