Your Guide to the Champions Club Blanc F1 Experience at the Canadian Grand Prix

The city completely transforms for race weekend, and Old Montreal and the Old Port are where the energy concentrates. Hotel William Gray and Auberge du Vieux-Port are both excellent—boutique, well-located, and genuinely great properties. That said, book the moment you commit. Montreal fills up six to twelve months out for race weekend, and rates climb steeply the closer you get.

For the average race fan who wants genuine comfort, great food, trackside action, and real behind-the-scenes access, Champions Club Blanc is where I’d point you every time. I haven’t experienced the Paddock Club firsthand, but its reputation is well established—and worth understanding before you assume it’s automatically the better option. The Paddock Club is oriented toward the pit lane and garages; you’re not watching racing or overtaking from there. It also skews heavily toward a see-and-be-seen crowd. Champions Club Blanc puts you at the racing. Those are two very different experiences.

View of the two-story Champions Club Blanc from the racetrack

Champions Club Blanc sits at Turns 13 and 14 — right at the Wall of Champions, where the Green and Pink zones meet. If you don’t know why that location matters, look up any highlights reels from this circuit. Cars get loose there every single year. Your view faces south toward the Paddock Club, the starting grid, and the checkered flag. It’s an exceptional position.

The venue is a sheltered two-level loge, enclosed on three sides—which matters enormously in June when Montreal can be hot, humid, and occasionally rainy. You check in each morning with your RFID wristband, supplemented with a secondary identification bracelet, and the F1 Experiences hospitality team is on hand throughout the day.

Level 1 has table seating with a full-length food and beverage bar along the back. Level 2 is the lounge level—sofas and comfortable chairs at the front near the track, bar stools and high tables toward the back, also with full food and beverage service. The Level 2 lounge spots with the best sightlines go fast. Arrive when gates open and claim yours.

Champions Club Blanc - Upper level lounge area

I chose Blanc over Champions Club Rouge specifically for the elevated position and the sightline down the straight toward the Wall of Champions. Rouge sits at a different trackside location and is priced between Blanc and the Paddock Club—worth a conversation if budget is a factor, but for the view and the venue, Blanc is the call.

All-day food and beverage is included—and it’s genuinely good, especially by trackside standards. Breakfast was fresh bagels with lox and cream cheese alongside proper espresso drinks. Lunch was a full spread: butter and bread rolls, salad, a vegetarian option, seafood pasta, a red meat option, vegetable sides, and a cheese and cracker board. Afternoon snacks included gelato, fruit, doughnuts, and local specialties including poutine. Open bar runs all day—wine, mimosas, beer, soft drinks. After two days of this, the contrast with the grandstand experience—where the bathroom option is a porta-potty with hand sanitizer and no running water—is almost comical. The Champions Club has its own proper restroom facilities with running water and soap. It sounds like a low bar. At a Grand Prix, it is not.

Champions Club Blanc - lower level tables and bar setup

Champions Club Blanc - upper level tables and lounge setup

Champions Club Blanc - External bar area overlooking the Basin and Casino

The service throughout the weekend was genuinely impressive and worth calling out. The wait staff circulated with drink refills during sessions—a small thing that makes a real difference when you don’t want to leave your spot mid-race. The F1 Experiences team was excellent across the board: knowledgeable, responsive, and easy to work with. I needed to reschedule one of our tours mid-weekend and it was handled without any friction whatsoever. There’s no formal swag bag, but over the course of the three days the team distributed a steady stream of extras—official race guidebooks (a $25 CAD value), branded blankets, F1 Experiences ponchos, and keychains—in addition to the lanyard and on-site amenities included with the package. It added up to more than you’d expect.

Sweet afternoon snacks - identical catering on both Champions Club Blanc levels

The guided paddock tour, which was included in the package, was the personal highlight of the weekend. Small groups of around eight people, behind the scenes through all eleven teams’ hospitality areas. We saw several drivers and F1 personalities up close—unexpected and genuinely exciting.

Throughout the weekend, an F1 commentator rotated through the Champions Club every few hours with race context, statistics, and guest appearances, including media reporters and the driver of the F1 safety car. That layer of access and atmosphere is what separates this from simply watching a race.

Your package includes a scheduled pit lane walk after hours. You walk the pit lane, photograph the garages, and take your time. The Championship Trophy photo is included—but manage expectations on the organization: it’s an open queue and the line can be long.

Beyond the champions club, the Canadian Grand Prix is as much a festival as it is a race, and the on-site experience is genuinely worth your time beyond your hospitality venue. 2026 was a record-breaking attendance year and crowds were everywhere. Worth doing, just build time for it. The F1 Fan Zone in the Yellow Zone near the main eastern entrance is worth a walk-through. The Heineken and AMEX setups in particular go all out—interactive experiences, photo moments, and giveaways worth stopping for. F1 Academy runs its own race weekend concurrently with the main event. The autograph sessions and paddock tours tied to that series are a fantastic and often overlooked perk. There are also other scheduled racing events too, including other motor sports series and F2 races.

Getting to the Circuit is where having an advisor genuinely pays off, because the logistics are not obvious and there’s a lot of conflicting information out there—in the F1 app, the race app, and online generally. The options are plentiful: the Navette Maritime boat shuttle runs every 30 minutes from Jacques-Cartier Pier in the Old Port and is a genuinely enjoyable ride with great views of the St. Lawrence; the metro is straightforward; Uber drops at designated pick-up points; and bikes are an option for the more adventurous. All of them work, and all of them will get you to the island. The issue is what comes after—because regardless of how you arrive, you’re still walking a significant distance across the circuit to reach your entrance, and in race weekend crowds that walk adds up fast.

For Champions Club Blanc specifically, my preferred method is the dedicated bus to the Casino entrance. It runs express—no stops, no fare. More importantly, it drops you directly at the closest entry point to the Champions Club, which means you skip the cross-island walk entirely. By Sunday afternoon, after three days on your feet, that matters considerably. One tip I always give: leave slightly before the checkered flag or commit to staying 45 minutes after. The post-race crush is real. If you leave right after the podium, you’ll be standing in a very long line—the sweet spot is avoiding the peak entirely.

The Canadian Grand Prix is not a complicated trip—until it is. The F1 Experiences packages are genuinely excellent, but navigating which package fits your budget and priorities is not always straightforward. Champions Club Blanc and Champions Club Rouge are priced differently and positioned differently on track—the distinctions aren’t obvious from the brochure alone. Understanding what’s actually included, knowing which entrance to use, sequencing your transport so you’re not stranded post-race, knowing about the AMEX priority lane before you’re already standing in the wrong queue—that’s where working with someone who has done it changes the trip.

In terms of accessibility, this race warrants a candid conversation before you book. The circuit is not accessible in any meaningful general sense—the transit options, terrain, and distances are all challenging. Two accessible grandstands exist (Platforms 21A and 41A, parking included) and the Platine Grandstand is the only covered option with proper seating, but neither Champions Club suite is adapted for reduced mobility either.

Regardless of package, I recommend these properties, which are convenient to all transportation options:

• Hotel William Gray

• Four Seasons Hotel Montreal

• Auberge du Vieux-Port

• Hôtel Place d'Armes

View of the Paddock, Pit Lanes, and Track from the Champions Club Blanc

Crowds viewed from the Champions Club Blanc upper levl

• Pack smart: Montreal in June is warm and humid. Bring sunscreen, a light layer for air-conditioned hospitality spaces, comfortable shoes, and ear protection for any time spent trackside. The cars are extraordinarily loud in person.

• American Express. AMEX is a major sponsor and cardholder perks are genuinely worth knowing about in advance. At the main Parc Jean-Drapeau entrance there’s a dedicated blue priority access lane—show your ticket and card and bypass the general switchback queues entirely. Additional perks include race radios with live English and French narration, access to a trackside lounge, and portable seat cushions. In a record attendance year, that priority lane alone was worth it.

• Book dinners immediately. Top restaurants in Old Montreal are fully booked through race weekend months in advance. Don’t leave this until you arrive. My recommendations:

• Maggie Oakes: Exceptional dry-aged beef and raw bar, with one of the best patios in Old Montreal.

• Modavie: A true Old Montreal classic. Live jazz, solid French-bistro food, and exactly the right vibe after a long day at the circuit.

• The William Gray Terrasse: Rooftop views over the St. Lawrence and great cocktails. My go-to sundowner spot.

• Auberge du Vieux-Port Rooftop Restaurant: One of the most atmospheric dining spots in the city, with incredible views over the Old Port.

• Tommy Café: Casual, buzzy, always packed with the F1 crowd. My pick for a relaxed brunch or quick lunch between sessions.

• Lanzhou Noodles: No reservations and no frills hand-pulled noodles in Chinatown easily walkable from Old Port.

For more inspiration and insider recommendations, visit our Montreal page.