The Canadian Grand Prix has witnessed several repeat winners since Formula 1 first visited in 1967, so F1 Oversteer has looked at which drivers are the most successful.
Dominant periods have regularly been a theme of the Canadian GP, with drivers like Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton making Montreal their playground. Jacky Ickx even showed it was possible to win in back-to-back visits to the Great White North at two different tracks.
Ickx secured the win at the final Canadian GP that Circuit Mont-Tremblant held in 1970 after winning at Mosport Park 12 months before. Jackie Stewart also then achieved back-for-back wins in 1971 and ‘72. But the Canadian GP did not know true dominance until Schumacher.
Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton are the most successful drivers at the F1 Canadian GP
Several Formula 1 drivers have proven they had what it took to win around the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. But Schumacher made the artificial island a playground from 1994 to 2004 with seven wins. Hamilton equalled the German’s tally in 2019 having also dominated since 2007.
Schumacher won his first Canadian GP driving for Benetton in 1994. The race marked round six of his first of seven championship-winning seasons. He even completed a hat-trick at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve by winning from pole position and setting the fastest lap of the race.
READ MORE: Five unforgettable Canadian GP moments including Lewis Hamilton’s blunder
Damon Hill finished the 1994 Canadian GP a distant 39.660 seconds from Schumacher, who also only won by 0.174s to Rubens Barrichello in 2000. Barrichello resisted pleas by Ferrari to reduce his pace as the rainfall intensified to hound his then-Scuderia teammate to the finish.
A margin of 4.343 seconds gave Hamilton his first Canadian GP win in 2007 and also his first win as a Formula 1 driver. The Briton took the win in Montreal with McLaren as a rookie over Nick Heidfeld of BMW Sauber. But controversy consumed his win at the 2019 Canadian GP.
Hamilton only beat Sebastian Vettel to win the 2019 Canadian GP for Mercedes by a 3.658s margin after the stewards slapped the Ferrari driver with a five-second time penalty. They penalised the German due to re-joining the track in an unsafe manner in front of Hamilton.
Vettel ran deep into Turn 3 under duress from Hamilton on Lap 48 but made the Briton take avoiding action when he returned to the track. It took the stewards nine laps before issuing the penalty, which thus allowed Hamilton to sit behind his great rival and not force a move.
The stewards infuriated Vettel as he cried, ‘They are stealing the race from us’, over Ferrari’s team radio. His theatrics were not ever, either, as the four-time Formula 1 champion sulked off following the flag before returning and moving the No2 board from his car to Hamilton’s.
READ MORE: The most successful teams and engine providers at the F1 Canadian GP
The F1 Canadian GP has seen nine repeat winners
The Canadian GP has seen nine drivers become repeat winners since Formula 1 secured the naming rights of the race in 1967. But rarely has anyone reached the top step of the podium more than twice, barring the success Schumacher, Hamilton and Nelson Piquet Sr achieved.
The post Which F1 drivers do well at Canadian GP with Schumacher and Hamilton successful appeared first on F1 Oversteer.