Iconic F1 track covered in SNOW

A groundhog at the Canadian Grand Prix — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

Iconic F1 track covered in SNOW

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve looks beautiful in the snow!

Originally written by Sam Cook. This version is a translation.

Wednesday 24 December 2025 23:08

Ever wondered what an F1 circuit would look like in the snow? Now you don't have to!

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is an iconic track on the F1 calendar, having been in use since the 1978 season (barring a few years off here and there).

It was previously named the Ile Notre-Dame Circuit, with Gilles Villeneuve himself claiming the first win around the circuit in 1978, but it was renamed following Villeneuve's death in 1982.

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Traditionally, F1 use the track around late spring/early summer for the Canadian Grand Prix, with this year's event taking place in June, seeing Lando Norris crash out of the race to put a dent in his title chances.

While we have seen some awful weather there over the years (I'm picturing Jenson Button's stunning victory in the wet in 2011), F1 has been lucky enough to avoid the icy temperatures of the Canadian winter.

The history of the Wall of Champions

Of course, the most infamous part of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is the Wall of Champions, which admittedly would be pretty hard to navigate in the Montreal snow!

It all started at the 1999 Canadian GP, which must have felt like a cruel joke for some of the sport's biggest names. It witnessed a domino effect of misfortune, with four drivers succumbing to the unforgiving wall that was later nicknamed the Wall of Champions.

The first to fall victim wasn't technically an F1 world champion, but motorsport royalty nonetheless - Ricardo Zonta, the reigning FIA GT champion at the time.

Shortly after, Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion, lost control of his Jordan on lap 14 and made contact with the wall. The drama continued when pole-sitter Michael Schumacher misjudged the corner on lap 29 and slammed into the wall, dislodging both right-hand tyres from his Ferrari.

His frustration was palpable, famously responding with a cutting remark to a reporter who asked about the incident: "Have you a bit of respect for humans?"

The hat-trick of F1 champion misfortune was completed by 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, son of Gilles, by understeering and clattering into the wall just five laps later.

Ironically, the advertising slogan adorning the corner's exit at the time, "Bienvenue au Quebec" (Welcome to Quebec), offered a rather unwelcoming greeting for these drivers.

The race, which set a record for the most safety car deployments at the time, was eventually won by McLaren's Mika Hakkinen, who eventually claimed the world title by a narrow margin of just two points over Ferrari's Eddie Irvine.

The Wall of Champions has continued to live up to its name in the years since. While it has claimed its fair share of non-champions - like Carlos Sainz in 2016 and most recently Kevin Magnussen in 2019 - it has also seen the likes of Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel fall victim to its unforgiving nature in 2005 and 2011 respectively.

F1 Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve