The weekend of June 11-13 had us at the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada in Montreal. Here is a selection of some of my best shots from the weekend.
If you crave more from this race weekend, you can find over 200 more photos here. But first, keep reading below for larger versions of the best shots from the event…
The first turn of the F1 race. Just after this shot, a variety of spinouts and collisions took place so quickly that I didn’t catch them on film, but it was very exciting!
The analogous first turn of the Honda Michelin challenge, in which these less-sophisticated cars bump each other at nearly every turn.
Three Honda’s in sync through the Senna curve. Notice they turn so aggressively that the inside tires actually leave the ground at the apex. Amazing they don’t roll altogether.
The smoke on the rear Civic are the brakes locking up as the car is pushed to the limits through the turn.
The Renault of Fernando Alonso.
The Mclaren-Mercedes of veteran David Coulthard.
The Jaguar of Mark Webber, as he recovers from being pushed off track at the first turn.
The unstoppable Ferrari of Michael Schumacher, quite probably the best driver that has ever traversed a track.
Bump! Yes, that’s a side-view mirror careening off the back car.
The bright yellow Jordan-Ford car. Can’t miss it.
My favorite team, Williams-BMW, was devestatingly disqualified from the race after placing 2nd and 5th, due to regulations governing illegal brake cooling ducts. Disappointing!
A Jaguar swoops through the first two turns.
One of the Hondas spins out after overdriving, kicking up a cloud of debris in the opening few laps of the Honda-Michelin challenge.
The Honda Civic’s were apparently stock cars, of course outfitted with the necessary safety equipment.
This orange open-wheeler was racing in the Historic Formula Race with replicas of old Formula cars.
The Acura NSX, one of the pace cars, this one for the Honda-Michelin Challenge.
The poor Minardi of Gimmi Bruni, didn’t finish his qualifying lap, although not a surprise for the always-struggling Minardi team. Gotta love ‘em.
A young fan, well outfitted for the loud din that the Formula One cars produce.
Clearly a veteran race-goer, wearing all his previous ticket stubs on his hat.
My lovely bride, enjoying the sunny weekend.
Flags were prevalent all over the circuit. Here, the checkered flag sits appropriately next to the winning team flag for Ferrari.
This shot gives a sense of the huge crowd. This is just one grandstand-worth of the 175,000 fans at the race.
Another crowd shot shows more flags, including one representing all the Americans that stream across the border for the event, like us!
The parade features the pit-babes as they move up the first straight in position on the starting grid.
One of many photographers at the race, standing in the infield between races, looking tired from carrying his 600mm lens around.
One of the course marshals, preparing for the start of the race, in which he’ll have to help stranded drivers and cars make their way safely off the track.
The red-and-white tires are there for the inevitable crashes that will happen when pushing these engineering masterpieces to their limits. Luckily, this particular set went unused for the 2004 race.
A giant and scenic sphere on the island where the track is located. We spent plenty of time wondering what the heck it was while making our way through the crowds, and back to Boston until next year’s race.
