At the chaotic Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on 13th June 1999, the circuit’s final corner (turn 13) claimed a notorious title that lives to this day. We remember watching that race baffled as a series of drivers clobbered the final corner, including the sport’s star driver Michael Schumacher.
That day it was dubbed the Wall of Champions and, heading for 30 years later, it still has that name.
How the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve’s Wall of Champions Came to Be
Right, as Formula 1 Management makes it so notoriously difficult to add videos to content, we can’t completely flag up the clips we want to. But above was the pivotal moment in the race, Michael Schumacher five seconds out front leading the race… until lap 30.
Schumacher was at the peak of his abilities at this point and it was a rare mistake. As he was the dominant force in F1, the fact he was involved in the wall action added extra gravitas to the day.
Just an FYI, the crash brought out the safety car to sweep the Ferrari off the circuit.
It was very dusty on that part of the track that day and two other drivers had already crashed there. BAR’s rookie driver Ricardo Zonta on lap 4, losing the backend of his vehicle and swiping the wall. That brought out the safety car to clear away the BAR.
Then came 1996 World Champion Damon Hill on lap 7 with the same accident. He lost control of the rear of his Jordan, clobbered the wall, and trundled to a halt.
Then on lap 35 the 1997 World Champion, Jacques Villeneuve, totally lost it and slammed out of the race at turn 13. He arrived at a bizarre, acute angle as if he’d entirely abandoned taking the corner properly.
It was a hefty whack and he was left limping away from his BAR. Again, the safety car was brought out.
Villeneuve’s track record at his home race, named after his legendary father Gilles Villeneuve, was abysmal. He’d crashed out at the same corner in 1997, too, when in a dominant Williams car. In 1998, he had a chance to fight for the win again but stuffed himself off the circuit at the first corner.
Plus, in 2000 he also crashed out of the race, colliding with Ralf Schumacher in the process.
Anyway, back to Canada 1999!
After Villeneuve’ crash, things continued to be leary, but everyone else was able to avoid turn 13. Ferrari’s second driver, Ireland’s Eddie Irvine, was attacked by McLaren’s David Coulthard. They had a clumsy collision and they got dumped down the order, triggering off a spirited (if erratic) comeback drive from Irvine.
During his rampage back up the order, Irvine later made a berserk move on Stewart’s Johnny Herbert.
The Ferrari driver sent a huge lunge and the pair stormed across the grass at turn 13, re-joining the circuit in various disarray, with both of them just about managing to avoid the Wall of Champions.
Note, also, Damon Hill’s Jordan left on the track just up the road from that messy incident. In modern F1, that wouldn’t happen—the car would be craned off the circuit. Also, Irvine would now be ordered to give the position back to Herbert (rightfully so) for gaining an unfair advantage.
The race went on to finish under safety car conditions (for the first time in F1 history) due to cult legend Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s brake failure a few laps before the finish. He suffered a hefty crash, fractured his kneecaps, but still went on to win the next race at Magny-Cours anyway.
Mika Häkkinen duly won in the McLaren. The 1998 World Champion would go on to have a dramatic 1999 season, struggling with mental health issues as the stress of the sport led him to make a series of weird mistakes. That included spinning off from the lead at Monza, then bursting into tears at the side of the track (“Real men never cry…” he quipped to journalists later).
He did eventually win the title again at the final race of the season.
That was largely down to Michael Schumacher’s absence, who broke his leg at the Silverstone race and didn’t return until much later in the season. Lucky for the laconic, likeable Mika.
The Wall of Champions Post-1999 Track Record
Ever since 1999, turn 13 has only grown in infamy. Here’s a big list of the drivers who have since stuffed themselves into the concrete:
- 2001: Rubens Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld
- 2005: Jenson Button
- 2006: Tiago Monteiro and Juan Pablo Montoya
- 2007: Vitantonio Liuzzi
- 2010: Kamui Kobayashi
- 2011: Sebastian Vettel
- 2012: Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado
- 2016: Carlos Sainz
- 2019: Kevin Magnussen (K-Mag)
- 2024: Zhou Guanyu
K-Mag’s crash (the video above) was the biggest of the lot, wiping out the whole track and triggering a red flag (he was A okay).
The Canadian GP continues to take place every year, a very popular venue in Montreal of Quebec. There are many more years to come with the chance for drivers to add to the wall’s tally. The wall even had “Wall of Champions” emblazoned on it a few years back and, we hope, for the 30th anniversary of the 1999 race there’ll be some sort of ceremony.
Drivers running into the wall, or something, to commemorate the occasion. 🧱
