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There was already a party vibe at the Crescent St. Grand Prix Festival on Thursday afternoon, with loads of folks strolling in the middle of the downtown street gawking at pricey parked sports cars, sipping beers and soft drinks, and talking about what to expect at the F1 race Sunday.
Well, not everyone was talking about the race itself. Liam Martin and Marielle Chartier aren’t hardcore Grand Prix fans. Like so many Montrealers, they’re just happy to take part in a weekend that acts as the unofficial kickoff to summer in these parts. Martin and Chartier, a couple, were both working at home in the Plateau and decided they would take an extra-long lunch hour and hop onto the métro to check out the action on Crescent St.
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Martin said he’s not really that into the race, “but you just want to see the spectacle.” And he thinks we should all get behind an event that is so important for the city’s economy.
“Anything we can do to supercharge it, I’m a 100 per cent behind it,” Martin said. “And when you think about Montreal, it’s all about being an international city — and having a Grand Prix is a critical part of that. There are only a few cities in the world that have that, and to me that’s something that really elevates Montreal above second-tier cities. It’s English and French together, and I think that’s what Montreal’s all about.”
Chartier is a mermaid performer, and she’ll be part of a Grand Prix event Friday at a local high-end car dealership. She has her own mermaid business, Aquamermaid.
“It’s super-niche, but if anyone wants a mermaid …” Chartier said.
Of course, there were also genuine F1 fans at the Crescent St. bash, like Michael Bennett and Shaun MacKenzie, who came in from Belleville for the race. This is Bennett’s 11th Montreal Grand Prix.
“I’ve just always liked all motor sports,” Bennett said. “Any kind of race. I’ve always been into dirt racing.”
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They say it’s always a good race here, never predictable.
“There’s always some kind of element of surprise,” MacKenzie said. “It’s always a good mix of qualifying and finishing results.”
They’ll be at the race, but they’re also happy to partake in the fun happening around town all weekend.
“Look around, there’s lots going on,” Bennett said. “Old World charm.”
“There’s a bit of that European feel, too, which is more F1 stuff,” MacKenzie added.
Andrew Sikora is also an F1 fan, but he’s relatively new to it. He only caught the Grand Prix bug when he binge-watched the popular Netflix series Forumula 1: Drive to Survive a few years ago.
“I know a lot of people who got into it because of that,” said Sikora, who moved here from Winnipeg five years ago. “I think it was seeing these guys who’ve achieved exactly what they set out to do.”
Sikora will be going to the race for the first time on Saturday, and he’s not quite sure what to expect. Well, he does have at least some idea: “I’m expecting a lot of cars going real fast.”
He talks of what a unique sport it is, in the sense that the car — and its engine — is as important as the star driver.
“It’s like watching hockey and focusing on the stick,” Sikora said.
And it’s huge for the city.
“Montreal is a city of festivals and this is the crown jewel of all of those festivals,” Martin said. “The city should keep reinforcing this as much as possible because it brings so much money to the economy. And if we want to rebuild the economy and get it to where it needs to be, this is the perfect example of something the city can double down on. It’s a bilingual event, it’s bringing in those international dollars. Keep doing it.”
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