Formula One drivers from Canada

There have been 15 Formula One drivers from Canada, four of whom have scored points. Gilles Villeneuve, rated amongst the greatest drivers of all time, died while qualifying for his 68th race. His son, Jacques Villeneuve won the World Drivers' Championship in 1997. Canadian drivers were absent from Formula One since his departure in 2006, until the arrival of Lance Stroll in 2017.

Formula One drivers from Canada
Drivers15
Grands Prix405
Entries473
Starts461
Best season finish1st (1997)
Wins17
Podiums39
Pole positions16
Fastest laps17
Points598
First entry1961 United States Grand Prix
First win1978 Canadian Grand Prix
Latest win1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix
Latest entry2023 United States Grand Prix
2023 driversLance Stroll
Jacques Villeneuve won the title in 1997

Current drivers

Lance Stroll has competed in Formula One since 2017. He began his Formula One career with Williams and scored a podium at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a third-place finish. Stroll moved to Racing Point for the 2019 season with whom he was contracted to drive until 2020.[1][2][3] He now competes for Aston Martin F1 team, a rebrand of the former Racing Point team.

Lance Stroll in 2022

Former drivers
Gilles Villeneuve sitting on his Ferrari at Imola in 1979

Gilles Villeneuve started his Formula One career with a one-off drive for McLaren at the 1977 British Grand Prix. He was quickly signed up by Ferrari to replace the outgoing Niki Lauda and he would remain with the team for all his time in Formula One. Villeneuve's most successful year came in 1979 when he won three races and came second in the drivers' championship.[4] He was killed during qualifying in an accident at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix – a collision with Jochen Mass pitched his Ferrari into the air and it was destroyed by the impact when it landed.[5] He never won a Formula One drivers' title and only won six races but is held as one of the best racers to ever compete in the sport.[4] In a survey conducted by Autosport asking drivers to vote for their choice of the greatest driver in history Villeneuve was placed tenth. Former teammate Jody Scheckter said of Villeneuve "I will miss Gilles for two reasons. First, he was the fastest driver in the history of motor racing. Second, he was the most genuine man I have ever known."[6]

Jacques Villeneuve, son of Gilles, was eleven at the time of his father's death. He had a successful career in IndyCar, winning the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and the 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series before moving to Formula One with Williams in 1996. He nearly won his first race, but an oil leak forced him to surrender the lead to his teammate and finished second.[7] He went on to win four races that year and clinched second place in the drivers' championship. Seven wins in 1997 saw Villeneuve go one better, achieving the title that had eluded his father. However, he would never win another race in his Formula One career, doing no better than four third-place finishes between 1998 and his retirement in 2006.[8]

In 1981 another member of the Villeneuve family had tried his hand at Formula One. Jacques, brother of Gilles, is sometimes now referred to as Jacques Villeneuve Sr. He failed to qualify for either of the two North American races he contested. He tried again at his home Grand Prix in 1983 but was unable to set a time good enough to allow him into the race.[9]

George Eaton competed in 13 Grands Prix with BRM, the majority of which were in 1970. His debut was in the 1969 United States Grand Prix and he entered one other race that year. He attended ten events in 1970, starting eight of them, and left the sport after a single race the following year, the 1971 Canadian Grand Prix. He only finished in four of the eleven races he started with a best finish of tenth.[10]

Allen Berg drove for Osella in 1986, competing in nine races. He saw the chequered flag on three occasions with a highest finish of 12th place.[11]

A number of Canadian drivers have competed solely in races held in their own country. Al Pease drove an Eagle Mk1 in three consecutive Canadian Grands Prix between 1967 and 1969. He was unable to finish any of the races and is remembered as the only driver in F1 history to be disqualified from a race for being too slow.[12][13] Bill Brack also competed in three home races, starting with Lotus in 1968 then, in 1969 and 1972, driving a BRM. He was unable to finish in any of the events.[14] Eppie Wietzes competed in two home races separated by more than seven years. He drove a Lotus in 1967 and a Brabham in 1974 but was unable to finish either race.[15]

Peter Ryan (1961),[16] John Cordts (1969),[17] and John Cannon (1971)[18] all competed in one Grand Prix each. Peter Broeker and Ernie de Vos were both entered for one race with Stebro in 1963. Broeker competed and finished seventh but de Vos did not start.[19][20]

Nicholas Latifi raced for Williams for three season between 2020 and 2022. He gained 9 championship points in those three years.

Accomplishments

World champions

There has only been one Formula One World Champion from Canada, Jacques Villeneuve, in the 1997 Formula One season.[21] However, Gilles Villeneuve finished second in the World Driving Championship in the 1979 Formula One season.[22]

Points scorers

Only four Canadians have scored World Championship points in Formula One; Gilles Villeneuve, his son Jacques Villeneuve, Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi.[23][24] At the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Stroll became the youngest rookie to achieve a podium finish in Formula One.[25]

At the Canadian Grand Prix

Only one Canadian has won the F1 Canadian Grand Prix, Gilles Villeneuve, at the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix.[21]

Lance Stroll would score his first World Championship points at the 2017 Canadian Grand Prix, the 50th anniversary grand prix. He is one of three Canadians to score points at the Canadian Grand Prix, the other two being Jacques Villeneuve and his father Gilles Villeneuve.[21][24]

Multiple Canadian drivers have participated in the same F1 Canadian Grand Prix only twice. The first was at the 1967 Canadian Grand Prix, when Eppie Wietzes and Al Pease both participated and in 1969 Canadian Grand Prix, where three started, Al Pease being disqualified as only F1 driver for being too slow.[23] The second was in 2022, when Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi took part in the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix.

Timeline
Drivers Active Years Entries Wins Podiums Career Points Poles Fastest Laps Championships
Peter Ryan 1961 1 0 0 0 0 0 -
Peter Broeker 1963 1 0 0 0 0 0 -
Ernie de Vos 1963 1 (0 starts) 0 0 0 0 0 -
Al Pease 1967–1969 3 (2 starts) 0 0 0 0 0 -
Eppie Wietzes 1967, 1974 2 0 0 0 0 0 -
Bill Brack 1968–1969, 1972 3 0 0 0 0 0 -
John Cordts 1969 1 0 0 0 0 0 -
George Eaton 1969–1971 13 (11 starts) 0 0 0 0 0 -
John Cannon 1971 1 0 0 0 0 0 -
Gilles Villeneuve 1977–1982 68 (67 starts)[26] 6 13 101 (107) [27] 2 8 -
Jacques Villeneuve Sr. 1981, 1983 3 (0 starts) 0 0 0 0 0 -
Allen Berg 1986 9 0 0 0 0 0 -
Jacques Villeneuve 1996–2006 165 (163 starts) 11 23 235 13 9 1 (1997)
Lance Stroll 2017–2023 141 (139 starts) 0 3 247 1 0 -
Nicholas Latifi 2020–2022 61 (61 starts) 0 0 9 0 0 -
Source:[28]

See also

References
  1. "Williams F1 team announces rookie Stroll and Bottas as 2017 drivers". Autosport. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  2. "Lance STROLL - Podiums". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  3. "Stroll's Force India confirmation completes 2019 grid". Formula1.com. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  4. "Gilles Villeneuve". ESPN F1. ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  5. "Gilles Villeneuve: Death of a legend". CBC. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  6. "Gilles Villeneuve". Autosport. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  7. "Race of firsts: Remembering the 1996 Australian GP".
  8. "Jacques Villeneuve". ESPN F1. ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  9. Williamson, Martin. "Jacques Villeneuve snr". ESPN F1. ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  10. "George Eaton". ESPN F1. ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  11. "Allen Berg". ESPN F1. ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  12. "Al Pease". ESPN F1. ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  13. "Drivers: Bill Brack". GrandPrix.com. Inside F1, Inc. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  14. "Bill Brack". ESPN F1. ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  15. "Eppie Wietzes". ESPN F1. ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  16. "Peter Ryan". ESPN F1. ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  17. "John Cordts". ESPN F1. ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  18. "John Cannon". ESPN F1. ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  19. "Peter Broeker". ESPN F1. ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  20. "Ernie De Vos". Manipe F1. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  21. Natasha Henry (10 June 2017). "Why the Canadian Grand Prix will always belong to the Villeneuve family". The Telegraph.
  22. Malcolm Kelly (7 June 2017). "The Villeneuves: In the name of the father". CBC Sports. CBC.
  23. Louis Butcher (8 June 2017). "Des Villeneuve ... à Stroll". Le Journal de Montréal.
  24. "Lewis Hamilton wins third straight Canadian Grand Prix, Lance Stroll finishes 9th". The Canadian Press. Montreal Gazette. 11 June 2017.
  25. "Un premier podium pour Lance Stroll" (in French). RDS. 25 June 2017.
  26. "Gilles entered 68 races but only started 67". Grand Prix Racing. 9 June 2006. Archived from the original on 2 July 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2006.
  27. Up until 1990, not all points scored by a driver contributed to their final World Championship tally (see list of points scoring systems for more information). Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
  28. "Canada - Grands Prix started". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
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