Canada prepares for the first sprint: “Domenicali is right, it’s an added value”

In Montreal everything is ready for a Canadian Grand Prix full of novelties. For the first time the Gilles Villeneuve circuit will host the sprint format, particularly appreciated by promoters, who join Stefano Domenicali in defining it as an added value. Furthermore, the plant on the island of Notre-Dame has undergone various expansion and modernization works, necessary to comply with the requirements that Monza must also adapt to. The first sprint The third sprint weekend of the season will be staged in Canada, the first ever for the North American country. The organizers really believe in the format, as confirmed by Jean-Philippe Paradis, CEO of Bell GPCanada: “The fans in Montreal want to see the best drivers in the world. What happens is that they take away the free practice sessions and turn them into two great moments of competition, which are the qualification for the sprint race and the sprint itself. Many have said that it would be nice to be able to see all this in Montreal. In fact, it creates great excitement in our city. Personally, I think it’s great to see a competition rather than people testing our own cars. We believe it is an added value for our race.” Jean-Philippe Paradis thus aligns himself with the statements of Domenicali, who has reiterated several times how the sprint is an added value for the promoters, who are pushing to host the alternative format: “I agree with Stefano [Domenicali]. It’s something I would recommend all other organizers to do, because it creates value for the weekend, as well as a kind of Super Saturday. Now Saturday is a truly electrifying day, because in addition to qualifying for the normal race there is also the sprint.” NurPhoto via Getty Images) While on the one hand the organizers will be able to leverage the sprint weekend, on the other they will have to compete for the spotlight with the Indianapolis 500. However, according to Sandrine Garneau, COO Brand and Strategies of Bell GP Canada, this will not be a problem: “Obviously the coincidence with Indianapolis was something we analyzed when the calendar was published for the first time. We feared above all that media coverage might suffer, but today I’m happy to say that in reality there will be more journalists than in recent years.” Montreal gets a makeover Another new feature of the 2026 event is the infrastructure, with the organizers having invested heavily in their modernization to adapt to the standards of Formula 1. “For us it was clear that the level of hospitality and facilities in general around the world was becoming increasingly competitive and modern,” explains Garneau. “Looking at the ours, we had entirely temporary structures, with the exception of the garage building, and we had to realize that we had to get to that level.” Photo Shawn Thew/AFP via Getty Images “The first thing you saw last year were the motorhomes in the paddock. They had been purchased by the promoter for the purpose of being used mainly for Formula 1. Furthermore there was the problem of capacity. We had many companies that wanted to be part of the Canadian Grand Prix and we were not able to satisfy all the requests. Last year we doubled the Podium Suite and this year we enlarged this one.” It should also be noted that a new platform has been set up on the beach, where several concerts are planned over the course of the various evenings. All this has led to an increase in the capacity of the racetrack, anticipating a new attendance record. The new standards of Formula 1. The promoters are already planning further interventions for the next few years, meeting the requests made by Formula 1. Sandrine Garneau explains: “Formula 1 has done a lot of pressure on us to continue to be one of the best events. I also want to underline, however, that Formula 1 has been of great help in accompanying us to bridge that gap and return to being a top event.” Jean-Philippe Paradis echoes her: “I would say that Formula 1 has become a premium sport with premium events. Our hospitality was not up to par”. In these cases, the comparison with Monza becomes inevitable. In recent years we have started to see some modernizations at the Temple of Speed, but there is still a long way to go before we catch up with the other events of the World Championship, as Canada is trying to do. Click here to add Formula Passion as your favorite source on Google Discover: you will find our contents more easily!

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-05-19 00:30:00