Formula 1 returns to action this weekend with the Canadian Grand Prix, held at Montreal\u2019s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. A unique blend of track characteristics, it features one of the biggest challenges on the F1 calendar \u2013 the so-called \u2018Wall of Champions\u2019.<\/p>\n
What is the Wall of Champions?<\/p>\n
F1 has raced in Montreal<\/a> since 1978, when the Circuit \u00cele Notre-Dame \u2013 looping around the man-made island situated in the middle of the St Lawrence River \u2013 replaced previous Canadian events at Mosport Park and Mont-Tremblant.<\/p>\n Renamed as the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve<\/a> following the local hero\u2019s tragic passing, the track features a tricky combination of chicanes, heavy braking zones and flat-out blasts, meaning the drivers have plenty to think about.<\/p>\n It is a venue that arguably saves the best challenge until last though, when cars thread the needle of the heavily kerbed Turn 13\/14 chicane and face a daunting block of concrete on the exit \u2013 providing the ultimate test of risk versus reward.<\/p>\n In 1999, no fewer than three title-winning drivers were caught out at that very spot across the same weekend, leading to the corner\u2019s nickname of the \u2018Wall of Champions\u2019, which has stuck to this day.<\/p>\n What do the drivers make of it?<\/p>\n \u201cAcross all of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, I think the last chicane is really important to get right,\u201d said Max Verstappen<\/a> a few years ago, when talking about the challenge posed by the Wall of Champions.<\/p>\n \u201cYou arrive at such high speed, so when you hit the braking point the brakes can be a bit cold, which means you have to be careful and get it right every time.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will also set you up for the exit where you come very close to the wall. It is important not to brush it as you can damage the rim.<\/p>\n \u201cA millimetre or centimetre doesn\u2019t make too much difference, just don\u2019t touch the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n Esteban Ocon<\/a> added: \u201cI always say I like chicanes and that\u2019s almost all you have in Montreal. It\u2019s a challenging and very technical track and I really enjoy driving on it.<\/p>\n \u201cMy favourite corner is the final chicane, with the Wall of Champions so close to you. It\u2019s a very tricky corner and it\u2019s very easy to get it wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Later examples include Williams team mates Bruno Senna<\/a> and Pastor Maldonado<\/a> in 2012, Carlos Sainz<\/a> in 2016, Kevin Magnussen<\/a> in 2019, and Lance Stroll<\/a>, Alex Albon<\/a> and the aforementioned Verstappen across the 2024 race weekend.<\/p>\n The current crop of 22 drivers will be doing their best to avoid the infamous wall when Free Practice 1 for the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix begins at 1230 local time on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Formula 1 returns to action this weekend with the Canadian Grand Prix, held at Montreal\u2019s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-596110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}