The Need for Speed

This summer, Formula One fans will watch cars scorch around Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in record time. Its new paddock came together just as quickly.

- Alex Cyr

AT FULL TILT, Formula One cars can top 300 kilometres an hour. That means any nearby structures have to be robust. The schedule for building a sturdy, sophisticated new grandstand for the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix was set to turbo, too. In 2018, the city of Montreal was on the hook with F1 for a new viewing zone to flank Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the historic four-kilometre track that's hosted Canada's most elite auto event since 1978. Just 10 months remained before the next F1 stopover, so the project started as a race against time and all the usual supply-chain delays.