Lalumière Sees Montreal Surge as Formula 1 Schedule Shifts to May
Montreal’s formula 1 schedule is colliding with the Canadiens’ playoff run for the first time, with the Canadian Grand Prix starting on Notre Dame Island less than 24 hours after Montrealers watch Game 2 in North Carolina on Saturday. Tourisme Montréal expects 170,000 unique visitors to the racetrack this weekend, while more than half of Formula 1 attendees are coming from outside Quebec.
Yves Lalumière on Montreal
Yves Lalumière said the overlap of two major sporting events in the city may not be a one-off, and he called it “It’s the beginning of a new era,” as Montreal packs the Grand Prix and the playoff run into the same weekend. The race has normally landed in June, but it was moved to May starting this year.
That shift puts the city on a compressed calendar. Saturday brings Game 2 in North Carolina, then the Grand Prix opens on Notre Dame Island before the weekend is over.
Chez Alexandre et Fils Thursday
Outside Chez Alexandre et Fils on Thursday, Alain Creton described the playoff run as “the cherry on the cake” and said, “The planets are perfectly aligned.” He also said the overlap was “Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful” and added, “Won-der-ful.”
Creton’s restaurant sat in the middle of a busy stretch of Grand Prix activity, the kind of setting that has become more crowded as hockey, racing and downtown traffic converge. Canadiens fans were already on the terrace of a Drummond Street bar that day watching Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final, while Montreal won that game 6-2.
Notre Dame Island Traffic
The crowd profile explains why the weekend is so large. More than half of Formula 1 attendees come from outside Quebec, and nearly 30 per cent come from the United States and other countries. One attendee from Connecticut, Gil Hawkins Jr., said, “I don’t know how everybody’s going to survive,” then asked, “Is it Saturday night we’ve got something going on?” and added, “I’m going to have to hide.”
Earlier this week, Youppi visited the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to present jerseys to Formula 1 drivers, and the Montreal Victoire became the first Canadian team to win the PWHL championship. Those moments landed before the race weekend fully opened, but the main squeeze remains the same: Montreal is trying to absorb a Grand Prix crowd, a playoff crowd and a city-center sports calendar that now runs on top of itself.
