115 replies to this topic

[JustNotFastEnough]

Always loved Istanbul Park. Replacing like for like IMO, despite Canada being one of my favourite circuits/race. Bring back Sepang!

[Whatisvalis]

Those who have been to the Canadian GP - any recommendations on visiting for the first time, grandstands, etc.?

[ch103]

Those who have been to the Canadian GP - any recommendations on visiting for the first time, grandstands, etc.?

 

Get seats on the Wall of Champions, the start finish line or at turn 2/3.  

[Bouncing Pink Ball]

This cancellation was inevitable. I'm pleasantly surprised to see the extension as I half expected the Montréal race to be dropped permanently.

 

Spoiler

We are low on vaccine because we don't have the production facilities, thus we have to import all of it. That isn't easy to do because other countries need to vaccinate their own populations. We did have the capability to produce vaccine in the past, but it was privatized and sold off by the government in the 80s. We will have it again, as the current government is investing in such technology and facilities, but nothing will be operational before the end of the year. We were relying on India - they obviously can't help us right now. The US has stockpiled vaccine but it isn't easy for them to release it to us because of their regulations. I don't know where people think vaccines for Canadians are supposed to come from, and I'm saying this as someone living where I'm unlikely to even be eligible for a first shot before the end of summer, if then. As far as repeated waves go, what do people want? When everything is closed down, people complain. When things open up, and travel inevitably brings new variants, people complain. We have limited vaccine. It's like the impossible is being demanded.

 

I'm sorry if the above angers people but the constant Canada bashing by folks who generally don't share the political views of the current government gets to me. It's everywhere, all over the internet.  

 

Also sorry about the unbroken block of test. For whatever reason, it was the only way I could make a spoiler tag work. 

 

 

[Risil]

We have a dedicated thread about Canada in the Paddock Club. Please go there if you want to talk about Canadian politics broadly!

[Dan333SP]

Those who have been to the Canadian GP - any recommendations on visiting for the first time, grandstands, etc.?

 

Sooo many recommendations. The city is the best part of the experience. I've been staying in a little botique hotel just behind the Notre Dame cathedral for about 10 years now, before that I stayed at a Holiday Inn on Sherbrooke. The place I stay now is perfectly located, you are steps away from Rue St Paul and a 10 minute walk from Place Jacques Cartier, which is a big public square in the old town that has lots of street performers. The whole of St Paul is usually closed to auto traffic for the GP weekend and you have tons of restaurants and shops open with GP-themed things happening, you'll see lots of drivers and team personnel walking around downtown during the weekend as well. In 2019 I bumped into Daniel Ricciardo and Damon Hill just walking around, and in a past year I had dinner in my hotel and ended up sitting 3 tables away from Jackie Stewart. 

 

I'm also a big cyclist, and you can rent a nice bike and enjoy the city's incredibly good bike infrastructure. I rode up Mont Royal last time I was there, incredible views of the skyline and quite a good workout as well, and there's a lovely path along the Lachine Canal I rode out each morning before breakfast and heading off to the track. 

 

As for being at the track itself, it's usually sold out and people hold onto their seats year after year. I've been in Grandstand 24 for literally 20 years now (huge grandstand on the exit of the hairpin) and I've worked my way up to the top row so you can stand throughout the race leaning against the railing. Same people sit around us each year, which is great because we've become good friends. I personally love the hairpin because you can easily walk to the support race paddock behind the rowing basin's launch area, but I'm sure other corners are exciting as well. I sat at Turn 1 for my first race in '99, was pretty cool seeing the start, but those tickets are pricier I believe. General admission is a very bad idea because there aren't many points of elevation allowing you to see over the barriers, and most of the viewing spots are boarded up to prevent bottlenecks for people walking the track. 

 

Here are some pics that show the view from my grandstand, plus some ambiance cycling the city and walking around at night. This is from 2019, so you can see the pic of everyone cheering Vettel's pole lap too-

 

https://imgur.com/a/VggF8Dr

[HeadFirst]

Sooo many recommendations. The city is the best part of the experience. I've been staying in a little botique hotel just behind the Notre Dame cathedral for about 10 years now, before that I stayed at a Holiday Inn on Sherbrooke. The place I stay now is perfectly located, you are steps away from Rue St Paul and a 10 minute walk from Place Jacques Cartier, which is a big public square in the old town that has lots of street performers. The whole of St Paul is usually closed to auto traffic for the GP weekend and you have tons of restaurants and shops open with GP-themed things happening, you'll see lots of drivers and team personnel walking around downtown during the weekend as well. In 2019 I bumped into Daniel Ricciardo and Damon Hill just walking around, and in a past year I had dinner in my hotel and ended up sitting 3 tables away from Jackie Stewart. 

 

I'm also a big cyclist, and you can rent a nice bike and enjoy the city's incredibly good bike infrastructure. I rode up Mont Royal last time I was there, incredible views of the skyline and quite a good workout as well, and there's a lovely path along the Lachine Canal I rode out each morning before breakfast and heading off to the track. 

 

As for being at the track itself, it's usually sold out and people hold onto their seats year after year. I've been in Grandstand 24 for literally 20 years now (huge grandstand on the exit of the hairpin) and I've worked my way up to the top row so you can stand throughout the race leaning against the railing. Same people sit around us each year, which is great because we've become good friends. I personally love the hairpin because you can easily walk to the support race paddock behind the rowing basin's launch area, but I'm sure other corners are exciting as well. I sat at Turn 1 for my first race in '99, was pretty cool seeing the start, but those tickets are pricier I believe. General admission is a very bad idea because there aren't many points of elevation allowing you to see over the barriers, and most of the viewing spots are boarded up to prevent bottlenecks for people walking the track. 

 

Here are some pics that show the view from my grandstand, plus some ambiance cycling the city and walking around at night. This is from 2019, so you can see the pic of everyone cheering Vettel's pole lap too-

 

https://imgur.com/a/VggF8Dr

 

Never thought of cycling on the GP weekend, but it sounds like a wonderful idea. When you say "nice" bike, do you mean an upscale road bike (light weight, clipless pedals, etc.)?

[Dan333SP]

Never thought of cycling on the GP weekend, but it sounds like a wonderful idea. When you say "nice" bike, do you mean an upscale road bike (light weight, clipless pedals, etc.)?

 

Yea, rented an Argon 18 carbon bike with 105, brought my own cycling kit/helmet and shoes, they put on SPD-SL pedals for me. The shop I rented from also has cruiser bikes but I wanted to do longer rides for training. It wasn't too pricey, something like $60 CAN per day. 

[AustinF1]

Sooo many recommendations. The city is the best part of the experience. I've been staying in a little botique hotel just behind the Notre Dame cathedral for about 10 years now, before that I stayed at a Holiday Inn on Sherbrooke. The place I stay now is perfectly located, you are steps away from Rue St Paul and a 10 minute walk from Place Jacques Cartier, which is a big public square in the old town that has lots of street performers. The whole of St Paul is usually closed to auto traffic for the GP weekend and you have tons of restaurants and shops open with GP-themed things happening, you'll see lots of drivers and team personnel walking around downtown during the weekend as well. In 2019 I bumped into Daniel Ricciardo and Damon Hill just walking around, and in a past year I had dinner in my hotel and ended up sitting 3 tables away from Jackie Stewart. 

 

I'm also a big cyclist, and you can rent a nice bike and enjoy the city's incredibly good bike infrastructure. I rode up Mont Royal last time I was there, incredible views of the skyline and quite a good workout as well, and there's a lovely path along the Lachine Canal I rode out each morning before breakfast and heading off to the track. 

 

As for being at the track itself, it's usually sold out and people hold onto their seats year after year. I've been in Grandstand 24 for literally 20 years now (huge grandstand on the exit of the hairpin) and I've worked my way up to the top row so you can stand throughout the race leaning against the railing. Same people sit around us each year, which is great because we've become good friends. I personally love the hairpin because you can easily walk to the support race paddock behind the rowing basin's launch area, but I'm sure other corners are exciting as well. I sat at Turn 1 for my first race in '99, was pretty cool seeing the start, but those tickets are pricier I believe. General admission is a very bad idea because there aren't many points of elevation allowing you to see over the barriers, and most of the viewing spots are boarded up to prevent bottlenecks for people walking the track. 

 

Here are some pics that show the view from my grandstand, plus some ambiance cycling the city and walking around at night. This is from 2019, so you can see the pic of everyone cheering Vettel's pole lap too-

 

https://imgur.com/a/VggF8Dr

Great tips and nice summary! Everything Dan said. It's just awesome. Also, if you don't drive to Montreal, you likely will not need a car while you're there. Just get a Metro pass and you're all set. Of all the places I've been with a Metro system, Montreal's is the best, newest, easiest to use, and cleanest I've seen. And re: cycling, Olympic Park has a nice path for bikes and skates. And remember, unlike in some places, like COTA, the Thursday Pit Walk is free and open to everyone, not just premium passholders. You don't even need a race ticket. Anyone can go and stay throughout if they like. At COTA it's a cattle call & in 2019 they even sold passes to it.

 

Some people traveling to Quebec are intimidated by potential French language issues. I don't speak French, but have never had a problem at all. I've found that most people speak both French and English, and will happily respond to whatever is spoken to them. Of course there will be exceptions, but they aren't common.

 

A trip up Mont Royal and through the beautiful park is a must. The multiple Fan Fests downtown are huge, crowded, varied, and entertaining. So much to see. Old Montreal is beautiful and more like Europe than anywhere I know of outside Europe. If someone parachuted you in there blindfolded, you likely would think that's where you were. There's so much to tell. I'm sure this list will be added to extensively.

Edited by AustinF1, 29 April 2021 - 20:55.

[alfaberlina]

Great tips and nice summary! Everything Dan said. It's just awesome. Also, if you don't drive to Montreal, you likely will not need a car while you're there. Just get a Metro pass and you're all set. Of all the places I've been with a Metro system, Montreal's is the best, newest, easiest to use, and cleanest I've seen. And re: cycling, Olympic Park has a nice path for bikes and skates. And remember, unlike in some places, like COTA, the Thursday Pit Walk is free and open to everyone, not just premium passholders. You don't even need a race ticket. Anyone can go and stay throughout if they like. At COTA it's a cattle call & in 2019 they even sold passes to it.

 

Some people traveling to Quebec are intimidated by potential French language issues. I don't speak French, but have never had a problem at all. I've found that most people speak both French and English, and will happily respond to whatever is spoken to them. Of course there will be exceptions, but they aren't common.

 

A trip up Mont Royal and through the beautiful park is a must. The multiple Fan Fests downtown are huge, crowded, varied, and entertaining. So much to see. Old Montreal is beautiful and more like Europe than anywhere I know of outside Europe. If someone parachuted you in there blindfolded, you likely would think that's where you were. There's so much to tell. I'm sure this list will be added to extensively.

What Dan and Austin said x3 -- we love Montreal and the race weekend -- have been going regularly since late 1990s

 

Little secret is to stay in Longueuil (to the east side of Ile Notre-Dame in the middle of the river where the track is) -- you get to do the reverse commute on the Metro to the track morning and afternoon, as very nearly everyone is coming to (or leaving at end of day) the island from Montreal proper to the west -- no big deal jumping on the train with the locals in Longueuil compared to the crush coming in from the City (we've done both and seen the difference) -- there are good hotels on that side and lots of markets that you can stock a cooler with heading in to the track for the day

 

Metro is so terrific that going into the city for dinner, bar hop, party, Old Montreal, etc. is very easy from that side of the river -- just a couple subway stops, so it's not like you are driving in from a remote hotel 45 min away from the track or having fun in the city -- Metro runs decently late, is safe, and quick return to hotel

 

Can't wait until next year (we bought 2020 tix after returning in 2019, thus punted forward to 2021 and now 2022)

[HeadFirst]

Yea, rented an Argon 18 carbon bike with 105, brought my own cycling kit/helmet and shoes, they put on SPD-SL pedals for me. The shop I rented from also has cruiser bikes but I wanted to do longer rides for training. It wasn't too pricey, something like $60 CAN per day.                                                                                                                                                          

 

  Not interested in a cruiser, and at that $60 it's not worth bringing my road bike on the plane. Thanks Dan.

[FLB]

Major news: The promoter of the race has sold to Bell. Bell is a multimedia company that owns, amongst other things, the broadcasters of F1 in Canada, TSN and RDS:

 

https://www.lapresse...-grand-prix.php (en francais)

 

https://www.lelezard...e-19778501.html (en francais)

 

 

For those of you who have been trying to get refunds for either 2020 or this year, your chances of actually getting one just became a helluva lot better.

Edited by FLB, 30 April 2021 - 13:57.

[Dan333SP]

  Not interested in a cruiser, and at that $60 it's not worth bringing my road bike on the plane. Thanks Dan.

 

Here's the shop I used, if you book for 3 days like I did the price is $150 Canadian, it's also a really nice bike-

 

https://caroulemontr...ntals/road-bike

 

I've never travelled with a bike case, I like the convenience of not having to assemble/disassemble my bike and the worry of frame damage, so when I go somewhere with interesting roads I'll usually rent a bike. 

 

Then again, over the years I've been doing this, I've probably spent the equivalent of several nice bikes and a case on rental fees. 

Edited by Dan333SP, 30 April 2021 - 12:54.

[loki]

Major news: The promoter of the race has sold to Bell. Bell is a multimedia company that owns, amongst other things, the broadcasters of F1 in Canada, TSN and RDS:

 

https://www.lapresse...-grand-prix.php (en francais)

 

https://www.lelezard...e-19778501.html (en francais)

 

 

For those of you who have been trying to get refunds for either 2020 or this year, your chances of actually getting one just became a helluva lot better.

For those of us on your southern border that barely managed to learn our native tongue let alone some furrien language like Canadian...

 

https://translate.go...-grand-prix.php

 

Good news all around.

[AustinF1]

Sounds like everyone wins with that deal, esp the City of Montreal and the fans.

[FLB]

I don't know if it's because they're beginning to spend money promoting F1 (and Autosport being one of the benficiaries), but I can't remember seeing a targeted Bell ad on this forum... until a few moments ago