Canadian Grand Prix signs Formula One contract extension through 2035
The Canadian Grand Prix is staying on the Formula One calendar until at least 2035.
Octane Racing Group — the Canadian GP promoter — and several government officials announced a four-year contract extension on Tuesday.
The race was previously under contract through 2031. An agreement signed until 2029 was extended two years after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the 2020 and 2021 editions.
Octane Racing Group president and CEO Jean-Philippe Paradis joined Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante, Quebec tourism minister Caroline Proulx and federal MP Carlos Leitão in a news conference on Île Notre-Dame on Tuesday.
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The extension arrives after a successful Grand Prix last weekend, an important step for organizers after last year's fiasco sparked some speculation about whether Montreal would stay on the F1 calendar.
Congestion, flooding and ill-timed downtown patio inspections disrupted the 2024 edition and damaged the race's reputation.
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Next year's Canadian GP is scheduled for May 24, moving back from its traditional June slot to reduce travel and environmental impact. The event will now take place following the Miami Grand Prix instead of being sandwiched between races in Europe.
The Canadian GP — set for its 55th edition next year — joined F1 in 1967 and first staged races in Bowmanville, Ont., and Mont-Tremblant, Que.
The event moved to Montreal in 1978, and hometown hero Gilles Villeneuve won the city's inaugural race. Initially called Circuit Île Notre-Dame, the track was renamed to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after the local icon's untimely death in 1982.
The Canadian GP gained significance as the only North American race on the F1 calendar for several years in the 1990s and 2000s. There are currently three stops in the United States and one in Mexico City.
Grand Prix weekend provides a major economic boon to Montreal. An announced 352,000 spectators attended this year's event over three days.
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