Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Canadian Grand Prix)
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a 4.361 km semi-permanent track on Ile Notre-Dame in Montreal, host of the Canadian Grand Prix. It is a stop-start layout of straights linked by tight chicanes and hairpins, brutal on brakes, and famous for the Wall of Champions at the final corner that has caught out many a title contender.
At a glance
- Location: Montreal, Canada (Ile Notre-Dame)
- Length: 4.361 km
- Corners: 14
- Layout: semi-permanent circuit, run clockwise
The character
:::analysis Montreal is a heavy-braking, low-grip circuit where the lap is a sequence of acceleration zones bookended by chicanes. Brake cooling and stability under braking are the dominant engineering concerns, and the close walls leave no room for error, most famously at the final chicane where the "Wall of Champions" has ended races for multiple world champions. It frequently produces chaotic, safety-car-strewn races. :::
Strategy and overtaking
The long straights into the hairpin and the final chicane give two strong DRS-assisted passing zones, so track position is less sacred here than at most circuits[1]. The high safety-car probability makes timing a stop around a caution period a major strategic lever, and the abrasive, low-grip surface can swing teams between one and two stops.
Related
- [1]Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Wikipedia) (wikipedia-en). Accessed 2026-06-18.