Montreal, Quebec · CA
A semi-permanent circuit on Île Notre-Dame in the St. Lawrence River. Named after the legendary Canadian driver, it features the infamous Wall of Champions at the final chicane that has caught out many greats.
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a permanent racing circuit, located in Montreal, Quebec. Drivers cover 4.361 km (2.71 miles) and 14 corners each lap, run clockwise. Among its named corners are L'Épingle and Wall of Champions.
The circuit opened in 1978 and holds FIA Grade 1 licensing. It appears on the Formula 1 calendar. Around 100,000 spectators can attend.
The circuit runs on Île Notre-Dame, an artificial island built in the St Lawrence for Expo 67. When Montreal took over Canada's Grand Prix in 1978 the layout was drawn using the roads already there, which is why it has the shape it does — long straights joined by tight chicanes, hemmed in by water on both sides.
The first race could hardly have gone better for the host nation. Gilles Villeneuve won it in front of a crowd that included Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. It was called the Île Notre-Dame Circuit until 1982, when Villeneuve was killed in qualifying at Zolder and Montreal renamed the track after him. The wall on the exit of the final chicane carries a painted greeting to departing drivers and has claimed enough of them to be known as the Wall of Champions.
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