‘Total 180’: Organizers of Canadian Grand Prix making improvements to mobility after last year’s logistical issues

Less than two weeks away from the Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix of Canada at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, organizers of the race say they are putting in place measures to help create a more seamless experience for fans and F1 teams, after logistical issues last year.

“We were forced to go back to the drawing table and see how we can adapt and be more competitive with other sports and other Grand Prix,” said Sandrine Garneau, COO of Brand and Strategy at Octane Racing Group, the official promoter of the event.

“I think we were a little bit a victim of a perfect storm,” she added, admitting that mobility was one of the challenges they faced last year.

“The weather definitely did not help last year, which obviously we can’t do anything about, but what we did do this year is equipped ourselves to be in a better position to handle those last minute things — hiccups that might happen,” she said.

This year’s edition is taking place on the weekend of June 13-15.

Last year, the city and race organizers faced criticism after stormy weather led to mud and flooding at the race site. There were traffic headaches, fans breaching the track at the end of the race, and fans being turned away from a practice session they were led to believe was cancelled.

This prompted Quebec’s tourism minister Caroline Proulx to say she was “very embarrassed” for the city and the province.

“The access to the site is so important,” said Yves Lalumière, President and CEO of Tourisme Montréal. “You want this to be fast, fluid, flexible — in that case it wasn’t, right? So we absolutely need to make that improvement very quickly to be comparable with other Grand Prix in the world.”

Organizers call this year’s planning a “total 180” compared to last year — with the help of an official app to guide fans more easily around the two-kilometre site.

“Those communications now will be under control,” said Véronique Doucet, executive director of the Société du parc Jean Drapeau. “So there’s no orders or communication that would be given during the weekend that is not synchronized with all the communication that is official.”

There will be colour-coded zones for spectators to be able to better orient themselves and more pedestrian access throughout the park.

“We’ve put in some changes that are going to be visible to fans,” said Garneau. “They’re going to be able to enjoy the entertainment, the mobility, the app, the signage that goes throughout the site.”

Outside of the race track last year, there was also a fiasco with firefighters shutting down downtown terraces at the start of the weekend – something that Doucet says was associated with the event as a whole.

“We had a preoccupation starting the day after the Grand Prix of last year to make sure that everything that happened, that was not under our control,” said Doucet. “We talked to all those people and we made sure that the work has been done for this year and that we don’t have that situation that comes back this year.”

The race continues to be a major boost in the economy — injecting $162 million into it and drawing a record of over 300,000 spectators last year. 

“We’ve got 47 years of history,” said Lalumière. “So we had a bad year last year and the team really got together and sometimes it needs to happen like that so that we correct it and rightfully so,” he said.

“I think we’re there for many years and I think the improvements this year are going to be reflected very quickly,” he added.

The Canadian Grand Prix has a deal to remain on the calendar until 2031 and race promoters here hope their efforts this year will help solidify their future.

“We’re not blind to the fact that there’s other countries that want to take Formula 1 race,” said Garneau. “We are very aware of that and that’s why we need to make sure that we are at the top of our shape to keep F1 in Montreal.”