Paddock Postcard from Montreal

The unique setting and atmosphere of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on the Ile Notre-Dame always proves a huge draw to F1 enthusiasts from around the world, and this year has been no exception, with fans turning out in their tens of thousands to meet their heroes and enjoy the racing.

Among the more famous fans, actors Al Pacino, Anthony Edwards, Michael Douglas, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Nicholas Hoult joined Kourtney Kardashian’s partner and reality TV Scott Disick, fashion model and TV personality Gigi Hadid and a host of motor racing stars in Montreal’s cosy pit lane over the weekend.

Jean Alesi hooked up with his old Ferrari and Benetton team mate Gerhard Berger as he celebrated his birthday and his sole F1 victory here for the Scuderia back in 1995, while other familiar faces included former F2 and sportscar wheelman Didier Theys and Canadian DTM racer Rob Wickens.

As downtown heaved with race fans in St Catherine’s and Crescent Street in particular, visitors to the city also had their chance to pore over a dramatic sectioned full-scale representation of the soon-to-be-completed Bloodhound SSC land speed record contender, as part of the global engineering adventure that is being promoted by a British governmental showcase. Project instigator Richard Noble and pilot Andy Green seek to increase their supersonic 763.035mph mark from 1997 to an eventual 1000mph on South Africa’s Hakskeen Pan.