Fans fear for Canadian GP as record wildfires rage over Montreal region

Canadian Grand Prix

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Fans fear for Canadian GP as record wildfires rage over Montreal region

Roughly 160 wildfires are currently active in the Quebec region and the smog is causing havoc in Montreal

Joe Ellis

Thursday 8 June 2023 11:57

Fans have voiced their concerns that the Canadian Grand Prix could be under threat of cancellation due to severe smog in the city of Montreal.

F1 is due to visit the largest city in Quebec on June 16-18th for the eighth round of the 2023 season but it may have to be called off if things aren't settled down by then.

Canada is currently suffering from a record number of wildfires which has created an enormous smog over many major cities in the country and it even stretches as far as New York in the United States.

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According to the BBC, there has already been 2,214 fires in 2023 and the area which has been burned is roughly the same size as Belgium.

160 wildfires currently rage across the region, according to CTV News, and the Quebec government are calling for international help.

Major health risk

The smog itself is not thought to have an impact on flights in and out of Montreal nor would it prevent people from making it to the track as spectators, but there are bigger concerns at hand.

i'm just thinking about how rain flooding the imola region and wildfires in canada potentially disrupting the gp schedule is like our proof of how bad climate change and global warming is getting. we should be concerned.
— f1 thoughts (@formulafunnn) June 8, 2023

if there’s any chance the canadian gp will be cancelled due to the wildfires i just hope they’re gonna announce it more on time than they did w imola
— ‎‏lisa⁰¹₈₁ ♡ (@emilianverstppn) June 8, 2023

Will the Canadian GP happen?https://t.co/E9V1rxl7fw
— Scuderia F1 Podcast (@ScuderiaF1Pod) June 8, 2023

A high-risk air quality warning has been sent out across a large region including cities such as Toronto and Connecticut.

In some regions, thousands of people have had to be evacuated due to the severity of the smog caused by the blaze and people in Montreal have been encouraged to stay indoors and close their windows to minimise their exposure.

Think ahead

F1 has already cancelled one race in 2023 when flooding near Imola made the Emilia Romagna GP impossible to host, with the local area in peril.

On that occasion, F1 could afford to wait as the trip from Imola to Monaco was not a long one and all 10 teams are based in the UK or Europe.

But getting all of the freight over to Canada to then not race is not what anybody wants to see, as F1 tries to be as eco-friendly as possible.

If this smog threatens to cause the Grand Prix several issues, the powers that be may have to come to a decision before people make their way to North America.