Canada's Other F1 Track

     

    The Canadian Grand Prix has been a mainstay on the calendar for decades, and since 1978 the home of the race has been in Montreal. the Track was original called Île Notre-Dame Circuit, but it was renamed to Circuit Giles Villeneuve in 1982 after Villeneuve's fatal crash at Spa. The track is one of the driver's favourites and it is most well known for the "Wall of Champions" which is a very close wall after the last chicane that leaves no room for error and has cost drivers some race wins and erased qualifying sessions, including Jacques Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill in Qualifying in the same year. It is a great track, but it wasn't the first track that F1 raced on in Canada.

    Mosport (now known as Canadian Tire Motorsport Park) is a racetrack located in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. Jack Brabham won the first race here in 1967. One of the mopre famous races was Jackie Stewart winning in 1972 in a Monsoon that caused several drivers to spin out of the race. There was a tragic accident in 1973 that claimed the life of Peter Revson during qualifying. 1977 was the last race to be held here before it was moved to Montreal. The track is still very popular in many different motor sporting events to this day.

I would love to see F1 return here, whether it be hosting the Canadian GP every other year with Montreal, or having a second race on the calendar. The track is still in regular use and even if it isn't up to F1 standards at the moment, it would require a quick facelift to get there, not a complete tear down. I think it would be tough to accommodate the crowd that would be coming for the weekend event. Circuit Giles Villeneuve has a capacity of 100,000, Mosport doesn't have a listed capacity as a lot of people watching races there just stake out a spot on a hill. F1 would obviously put in temporary seating for the event but I don't know if it would match Giles. Also, it's located in the middle of nowhere. There is plenty of residential developments and farm land in Bowmanville, about 45 minutes outside of Toronto, but there definitely not the hotels and other amenities that most specters would come to expect at an F1 race. 

    This isn't something I think has a realistic chance of happening, but it would be cool to revisit this historic F1 track. Especially with the push for more North American exposure with the F1 brand over the past few years. But just because Mosport isn't suitable to host an event, that doesn't mean there aren't other locations in Canada that could handle an F1 race. 

    Toronto has had an Indy race taking place in the downtown core of the city since 1986, only missing one year in 2008 and some cancelled races during COVID. It is a small road course that may not be F1 ready, but it is in a big open space that would allow for a different, more F1 friendly track design. There have also been road courses in Vancouver and Edmonton as well, bigger cities that would be able to accommodate the even a lot more than Mosport would.

    It's just something I have been thinking about after seeing the F1 calendar go from 1 race in America to 3 races in the 2023 season. Realistically, if they were going to continue the North American Expansion, they would add more races in the States. Unless Lance Stroll turns into Max Verstappen over night, I don't think F1 will be itching to add more stops in Canada.