After F-1 practice ended, I took a bit of time to explore our new location. The stand wasn't too full, so I went up to the very top, and at both corners. The stands are quite high, and very nice panoramic views of the track and across the waters to downtown Montreal are to be had. My walk around the stand also revealed that distinctly different vantage points are possible - extreme top-right gives a view nearly straight down the start/finish stretch, and extreme top-left adds a view of the short curving section between turns 2 and 3. I'm not sure, however, if there is any way to engineer which seats you get assigned (we got assigned seats below and to the left - quite close to the track itself, actually).
After an intermission, next up was a qualifying session - not for Formula 1, but for a ferrari-sponsored racing series called the Ferrari Challenge. These days, the series consists entirely of ferrari 458 Italia sports cars (actually, a race-prepped version of the 458 Italia, known as the 458 Challenge), scantioned by and overseen by ferrari itself.
Ferrari Challenge Qualifying
We had watched several Ferrari Challenge races last year, and this year was no different: the cars are bright, fast, and loud - louder than the current crop of formula one cars, in fact.
courtesy JInnes
Intently Watching Proceedings
After the Ferrari Challenge qualifying session, track activity halted for a lunch intermission. Taking advantage of the nature-like setting in which the circuit Gilles Villeneuve is located, we walked back a short ways from our stands to a nice shady spot in a grove of trees (to have lunch and stretch out for a bit).
