Canadian F1 Grand Prix opens in Montreal

The Canadian F1 Grand Prix has begun in Montreal after the paddocks were opened to a few lucky fans at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit on Notre-Dame Island.

Thursday was the annual pit walk where about 1,500 fans got a chance to catch a glimpse of some of their favourite racers in person.

After each race, teams disassemble everything from the pit gear to the cars and fly to the next city to put all of it back together again.

The attention to detail is immaculate.

One thing teams will have to account for is rain and how it might affect the track.

"It's a new surface. We repaved it back in the fall so we'll have to see about that, but maybe a little bit of rain, not heavy rain, but just a little bit of rain could make the race a bit more exciting," said Canadian Grand Prix president and CEO Francois Dumontier.

The race brings long-time fans as well as first-timers. Interest in F1 has exploded in recent years thanks in part to the Netflix series "Formula 1: Drive to Survive."

"I started watching Drive to Survive a few years ago and in 2019 I started getting into the race," said one fan.

Ferrari fans will be hoping to see Charles Leclerc atop the podium once again after he won the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago.

In the past few years, however, the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit has belonged to Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team, which is looking to make it three in a row.