Bumpy start for Formula 1 fans: A thunderstorm, street construction and a metro service shutdown overshadowed the second day of Canadian Grand Prix festivities on Friday in Montreal. Despite everything, many fans took to the streets of the city center.
“This year, because of the rain, it’s a little quieter,” noted Fabien Pilon, salesman in an official event merchandise store on Rue Sainte-Catherine for the second year.
Last year, Fabien Pilon sometimes finished work around “1, 2 a.m.” due to the busy business. While he acknowledges that rain has an effect in this regard, someone who describes himself as a Formula 1 “fan” derives no less pleasure from the event.
The merchants met by La Presse on Peel, Crescent and Sainte-Catherine streets all claimed to have fewer customers than last year due to the rain and the work.
That said, “when the weather is nice, it’s like last year: the world is bustling, it’s fun, there are cars in the streets. It’s like a bit of a party,” says Mr. Pilon.
Fans agree. “The Grand Prix is like Christmas or Thanksgiving,” says Brent Patterson. He found himself at Ziggy’s Bar, on Crescent Street, with his friends Adrien Vigneault and Steve Lapointe, unable to go to the circuit due to the storm.
The walls of the bar notably display the uniforms of Jacques Villeneuve, Fernando Alonso, and a Hamilton cap. The atmosphere is warm and friendly. The owner of over 30 years, Ziggy Eichenbaum, knows almost every customer there. The Grand Prix is a big week. He recorded an 80% increase in sales there.
The observation was not the same for the restaurateurs on Peel Street: a significant drop in traffic was already being felt… because of the construction.
On Thursday, Jorge Ferreira, owner of Café Vasco da Gama, anticipated the repercussions of the construction site at the corner of Peel and Sainte-Catherine streets. Compared to the same day last year, he observed a drop of approximately 40% in ridership.
“It’s usually the biggest weekend of the year, even more than Christmas,” he says, presenting the empty terrace of his café, in the middle of dinner time. Mr. Ferreira believes that this year will be different, due to the absence of the attractions that usually enliven the street.
New Formula 1 fan Véronique Auger visits Peel Street for the second year during the Grand Prix weekend. This year, she brought two of her friends with her.
“We quickly decided to go to Crescent, because there was nothing on Peel besides restaurants because of the construction,” she says.
Same story with Jorge Ferreira’s niece, who is also the general manager of the Ferreira restaurant, located a few steps away. “People are not angry with us, fortunately, but they are just disappointed for Montreal,” said Sandra Ferreira.
The terrace of the Iberica restaurant went from 50 to 20 seats this year, explains the manager, Christopher Ramirez.
According to Alain Creton, owner of Parisian brasserie Alexandre et Fils for 47 years, the situation could be much worse. “We could be negative, but we have people and that’s all that matters. »
In the afternoon, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) had to close access to Jean-Drapeau station, on Sainte-Hélène Island, for 45 minutes, due to the violent storm. A message broadcast in the metro erroneously announcing the cancellation of Grand Prix activities sowed confusion.
At the Berri-UQAM station, hundreds of supporters crowded in front of the escalators leading to the yellow line.
“We’re frustrated, that’s for sure,” said Alexandra Lehouiller, who had bought her ticket the day before “at the last minute” to attend the first free practice session on the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit.
“We were ready, we would have handled the rain, we have our umbrellas,” she added.
“I hope they’ll let us through at some point, because if you compare it to last year’s Saturday, there was a lot more rain,” said Gabrielle Tanguay, who will be attending the Grand Prix for the second year in a row.
“Some spectators had the reflex to take refuge at the Jean-Drapeau station to protect themselves from the rain without taking the metro,” explained the STM in a written statement to explain the closure. “Faced with this situation, the STM decided to broadcast an audio message in the Jean-Drapeau and Berri stations to prevent the crowd at the Jean-Drapeau station from growing larger and thus prevent the flow of traffic in the station from being compromised, thereby creating a safety issue.”
At around 1:05 p.m., Formula 1 fans regained access to Parc Jean-Drapeau and the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit began welcoming people at 1:25 p.m.
