F1 Canadian Grand Prix: A look at the longest race in the sport's history

Sebastian Vettel, 2011 Canadian GP — Photo: © LAT Images

F1 History

RECORD-BREAKER: What was the LONGEST race in F1 history?

A look at the 2011 F1 Canadian Grand Prix that lasted four hours, four minutes and 39 seconds

Yara Elshebiny

Thursday 11 May 2023 16:57 Updated: 20:35

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What is the longest race in F1 history? A look at the race that lasted four hours, four minutes and 39 seconds.

'The race of the century' was the seventh round of the 2011 season when the F1 circus headed for Montreal, Canada. The 70-lap race was plagued by a record six safety car stints and red flag periods. The rain-soaked Canadian Grand Prix lasted over four hours, including a two-hour suspension, making it the longest race in the history of F1.

After the race, new regulations were introduced for a four-hour race window, before the FIA reduced the maximum F1 race time to three hours in 2021.

The race

Although the rain stopped, the track was very wet that drivers had to start behind the safety car until they were released for racing after five laps, and the madness kicked off.

The start of the race saw pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel leading by 4.7 seconds over Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. In the following lap, McLaren's Jenson Button and his teammate Lewis Hamilton collided, with the latter hitting the wall and retiring – and the second safety car deployed.

The race resumed a few laps later, and Button was hit with a penalty for exceeding the speed limit while under the safety car, dropping him to 15th place. By lap 26, torrential rain led to the race's suspension, which was restarted two hours later.

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It wasn't long before the race was stopped again due to another collision between Alonso and Button, which resulted in the Spaniard's retirement, while Button returned to the pits with a left rear tyre puncture and rejoined the race dead last.

The remainder of the race saw Button climb positions until he reached second place, one second behind race leader Vettel.

Fast forward to lap 69, and after a string of collisions and race suspensions, Red Bull's Vettel was dominating the field in his RB7 beast of a car, on his way to securing his sixth victory of the season. He was unstoppable until...

The winner

The German made a last-lap mistake at the entrance of the second chicane that let Button overtake him and snatch the victory.

Jenson Button, Canada 2011. Credit: XPB Images

The Brit's 10th career victory came in historic fashion. He survived many scares during the action-packed race, including a drive-through penalty, a puncture, a record-breaking six pit stops and six safety cars, a drop to the back of the grid and a last-lap overtake to win the race without leading a single full lap.

Button set records for the lowest average race-winning speed (74.864 km/h), and the most pit stops by a race winner (6).