The heavy rain played a nasty trick on the facilities that hosted the Canadian Grand Prix… even in the building, which was delivered in 2019 at a cost of $60 million from public funds.
• Also read: Max Verstappen takes off
• Also read: Verstappen dominance, Stroll grabs a point
That’s the observation made by international racing channels, including RDS and Sky Sports, when their studio was flooded after Thursday through Saturday’s downpours.
“Water poured in copiously through the top of the wall and through the joints of the windows,” said a source, dismayed by the damage. The carpet was completely soaked making the place unusable.”
The technicians quickly had to protect their equipment at the exit of the waves. The teams then moved the studios to neighboring vacant premises.
A month ago, our Bureau of Investigation revealed that the brand new paddocks at the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit were experiencing serious water infiltration and drainage problems.
With kind approval
Among other things, we had to hurry to seal the window of one of the premises, which had to be evacuated and closed after the rain on Friday and Saturday.
Two big problems
The Société du parc Jean-Drapeau (SPJD) therefore commissioned the engineering company Groupe IRC.
The Journal received their report, in which the experts had identified the two main problems, namely the poor sealing of the roof, which leads to water seepage into the building and currents on the interior panels.
The contractor responsible for the project, Geyser Group, had raised the issue during construction in 2018. It’s important to remember that last year Geyser filed a $10.3 million lawsuit against the SPJD over unpaid bills.
But despite the legal debates, the problem has not been solved. Water reportedly continued to seep into the building during the busiest week of the year.
According to Environment Canada, Thursday’s thunderstorms dumped 1.5 inches (39.6 mm) of rain on the greater Montreal area.
Rain fell in Montreal on Friday and Saturday, respectively 7.6 and 3.6 mm, while the practice and qualifying periods took place under the fleet.
It’s best to just laugh…
Formula 1 even posted a humorous video on its Twitter account showing a vehicle driving through the completely flooded pit lane. The SPJD had repaired this pit line again in the past few weeks.
The organizer of the race and landlord of the facility, François Dumontier, and the Octane Group, which still boasts of the exceptional organization of its event, did not answer our calls yesterday.
Do you have any information about this story that you would like to share with us?
Do you have a scoop that might be of interest to our readers?