Canadian Grand Prix promoter explains how issues occured

Throughout the weekend, teams suffered from flooded hospitality and leaking roofings throughout the rain-soaked weekend. Team members, media and paddock guests were also disappointed with a lack of parking provisions. A muddy overflow car park caused many issues. Martin Brundle, F1 veteran and Sky Sports F1 pundit spoke about the organisation in his weekly Sky Sports column yesterday. Brundle stated: "I've been visiting the Canadian GP in Montreal since 1984, and this year was undoubtedly the least enjoyable in terms of the venue. The popularity and scale of today's F1 has outgrown the facilities, and the rain turning accesses into mud didn't help. The police and security appeared increasingly aggressive and unhelpful to boot, it was a logistical mess." 

F1 CEO apologised to teams for poor working conditions

On Saturday, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali was forced to apologise to teams for the working conditions. Of course, the teams were incensed with the shoddy equipment they had been provided. The organisers said in a statement: “Regarding (car park) and egress, we sincerely apologised and understand the frustration that this has caused, we acknowledge that what transpired is unacceptable and put in mitigation measures for the Sunday including an alternative route.

“We are well aware that leaky tents and media booths are not up to the standard we wish to uphold and will be having serious follow-ups with the third parties involved.” This was not where the issues stopped for the weekend. Some fans were not allowed in for FP1 and FP2 after a communication error, and just before lights out, a portion of some general admission ticketholder's view was disgustingly covered by black tarpaulin, even though it had been fine previously in the weekend. The promoter blamed Société de transport de Montréal for the incorrect info. F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve was affected by this, as he waited in the rain for hours before being let in.

Fans were stuck outside the track during FP1 and FP2

“We communicated to fans in grandstands to evacuate the grandstands due to weather but asked those in suites or permanent buildings to stay put. We temporarily stopped fans from entering the circuit for security reasons as they were safer in the subway, their cars, or the casino. We understood later in the day that the public transit authority, the STM took it upon themselves to announce a cancellation without our knowledge or consent. As soon as the weather front had passed, and it was safe to do so we allowed fans back into the grandstands and back on-site.”

The Canadian Grand Prix will remain on the calendar until 2031. F1 CEO Domenicali, along with the Canadian Grand Prix promoters, will be hoping that a logistical improvement is made in the future.