There are very few walls in F1 that hold such a place in the folklore of the sport as the wall on the outside of the final chicane at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal – The Wall of Champions.
The final hurdle to overcome before finishing a lap blasting around the Île Notre Dame, it has taken many victims over the years. The drivers arrive at top speed down the Casino straight, into a heavy braking zone and a tight, often slippery chicane that takes no prisoners. The high kerbs tempt drivers in, willing them to attack in the hope of that elusive perfect lap. This wall sits close to the track, waiting for its prey. It only takes the smallest of errors before a driver finds themselves, as Martin Brundle says, “straight to the scene of their accident” Once it has them, it doesn’t let go.
The Wall of Champions got its name in 1999 when three World Champions fell into its trap, and two more have since then. Lets dive into the history of this infamous walk and its victims.
Damon Hill – 1999
The 1999 Grand Prix rivals the 2011 edition for drama and safety car appearances. After a large first lap crash, the safety car was quickly brought out, and no sooner had the race restarted, we had the wall’s first victim on Lap 13. 1996 World Champion Damon Hill was in the last races of his F1 career, with rumours that the upcoming British Grand Prix was going to be his last. Hill in his bright yellow Jordan lost the back end on the exit of the corner, clipped the wall and broke his rear suspension. Game over.
Michael Schumacher – 1999
The future 7-time World Champion was only a 2-time World Champion when the wall caught him out. On lap 29, Schumi was leading the race from title rival Mika Hakkinen when he hit the second chicane hard, unsettling his Ferrari. He overcorrected and hit the Wall of Champions hard, destroying the right-hand side of his car. Another victim and another safety car.
“It was very clearly a mistake by myself,” he said afterwards. “I seem to make one a year, and I hope that’s the last one I make.”
Jacques Villeneuve – 1999
The 1997 World Champion was driving in front of his home crowd in his iconic BAR Supertech in 1999. Unfortunately for Villeneuve, it was not iconic for its speed, but for its double livery – see below. Jacques would have the largest shunt of the weekend on Lap 39, running wide mid-corner and hitting the wall straight on. There were no tech-pro barriers back then, just concrete which made the shunt even larger. The Canadian would limp away but luckily unhurt. His teammate Ricardo Zonta would also crash into the Wall of Champions earlier in the race, completing a terrible weekend for the team.
Jenson Button – 2005
2005 had been a disappointment for Button after a promising 2004. Pointless coming into Canada, combined with a two-race ban for a secret fuel tank, the team needed a good result. Jenson took pole by 0.25 seconds on Saturday and was running third behind the two Renaults when he found the wall on Lap 13. He missed the first apex, skipped over the second and found the Wall of Champions.
He wasn’t a champion yet, but his dream would come true in 2009 when his Brawn team would take a fairy-tale double victory.
Sebastian Vettel – 2011
This crash wasn’t in the race, but Vettel was still a champion when he found the wall during FP1, showing that he was, in fact, human after all. Vettel locked up on entry, had a large snap of oversteer, couldn’t correct in time and hit the wall hard. It was very similar to his countryman Schumacher’s crash in 1999, but much less costly. This incident was a precursor to one of the greatest races in F1 history, won by a man on this list: Jenson Button.
Honourable Victims of the Wall of Champions
There have been many other non-champion victims of the Wall of Champions during its illustrious career, so lets mention a few others.
Kamui Kobayashi – 2010
After impressing on his debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2009, where he gave Champion-elect Jenson Button a run for his money on his way to the title, Kamui was awarded a seat at Sauber for 2010. His full debut season didn’t start well, though, as he scored only 1 point in the first 8 races. The 8th race being the Canadian Grand Prix.
After qualifying 18th on the grid, Kamui would fail at the first attempt, hitting the Wall of Champions on the first lap. He did get his act together after, though, becoming a cult figure during his brief stint in F1, characterised by his aggressive race craft.
Kevin Magnussen – 2019
Kevin’s brush with the Wall of Champions happened during qualifying for the 2019 race but was the most spectacular in my opinion. Not only did he collide with The Wall, breaking his rear suspension, the force was so big it threw his car across the track and collided with the opposite wall, scaring the pit wall quite considerably on the inside. With debris everywhere and a very broken Haas, he would start at the back on Sunday as his team had to replace, well pretty much his whole car.
Will we see anymore Champions be claimed by the wall at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix? Max Verstappen is overdue!