Toronto has been selected to host the North American premiere of The Formula 1 Exhibition, opening May 3 and running until early summer at the Lighthouse ArtSpace.
The Exhibition consists of a wide range of exclusive contributions from the sport’s most legendary teams and personalities including iconic Formula 1 race cars from different eras as well as never-seen-before artifacts and video material. For the first time, visitors can also experience what it’s like to get behind the wheel of an F1 car in the state-of-the-art simulators using official F1 gaming equipment.
The Formula 1 Exhibition in Toronto is presented by TSN, a sports channel owned by Bell Media, and the exclusive television broadcast partner of F1 in Canada.
“Canada has a huge history in the sport, from a host of world-class drivers to an iconic Grand Prix. Toronto is home to a plethora of sports, entertainment, and culture so it’s in an ideal position to be the first in North America to welcome Formula 1 fans to this one-of-a-kind show,” said Jonathan Linden, Producer of The Formula 1 Exhibition and Co-President of Round Room Live.
“The feeling is that F1 has become an incredibly popular platform and sport. And even more so over the last number of years in North America. And there’s not a lot of ways to interact with the sport. There’s only a set number of Grand Prix. They just take a weekend. So how do you celebrate F1 beyond just the Grand Prix weekends and in some markets that don’t even get a Grand Prix.
“It’s the opportunity to put together a multi-media dynamic exhibition that celebrates the sport in a way that explains a number of the historical elements and how the sports works, and the history, but also as consumers today are looking for really heightened experiential elements that they can interact with. And I think a unique element of the F1 Exhibition is even people that have been to Grand Prix, and even if they had great tickets, you can’t really see the cars up close and personal as you might like to. So the opportunity to see any number of F1 artifacts and particularly some F1 cars so close and up front something that we’ve seen in other markets is really appealing to consumers.”
The North American debut follows a world-premiere run in Madrid, Spain, where it quickly became the country’s biggest-selling temporary show in 2023, followed by a record-breaking opening in Vienna, Austria, in February.
Officials say it is the world’s fastest-growing sport, attracting millions of North American fans, and this year’s Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal is selling out quickly.
“The F1 Exhibition has proven hugely successful during its visits to Madrid and Vienna and with Canada’s history and passion towards our sport, we expect that it will be popular with new and existing fans when it opens in May in Toronto. Experience has shown that it is a great way for them to connect to the sport in a different format outside of a race weekend,” said Emily Prazer, Chief Commercial Officer, Formula 1.
“This first F1 Exhibition in North America reflects the incredible growth the sport has seen in the region in recent years and shows our continued commitment to creating new and interactive ways for fans to enjoy the story of Formula 1.”
Officials said the Exhibition delivers a storytelling adventure across six specially designed rooms, spanning over 20,000 square feet in collaboration with award-winning curators, artists and filmmakers.
Visitors begin their 90-minute journey in Once Upon A Time In Formula 1, which features a mix of previously-unseen photography, film and artifacts which transports fans through some of the sport’s most iconic and defining moments. Design Lab takes visitors into the heart of a Formula 1 factory for a rare glimpse into how F1 teams design and manufacture each season’s new car.
Next, visitors will experience Drivers & Duels celebrating the most iconic drivers and legendary races since Formula 1 began in 1950. Fallen Heroes shines a light on the many drivers throughout Formula 1’s history who tragically sacrificed their lives in pursuit of success. The following gallery, Survival, covers Romain Grosjean’s horrific 150 mph crash in Bahrain 2020 and his extraordinary escape from the ensuing inferno. The gallery features a spine-tingling display of his HAAS car’s remains, alongside a new, multi-screen video installation featuring unseen interviews and footage of the crash.
The show then reaches its high-octane finale in The Pit Wall – a show-stopping cinematic and immersive experience that allows fans to relive the greatest moments in Formula 1 history like never before. Further exciting announcements are to come, revealing brand new displays that will give rare insights to the sport, exclusively for the Toronto exhibition only.
Formula 1 racing began in 1950.
Round Room Live is a leading producer and promoter of exhibitions and family show entertainment, specializing in transforming both new and iconic intellectual property into engaging and thrilling live events. Round Room creates unique live experiences tailored to the distinct character of each property and produces the highest quality productions for audiences around the world.
Round Room’s Immersive and Entertainment Experiences division is currently touring: Formula 1: The Exhibition, Jurassic World: The Exhibition, Mandela: The Official Exhibition, and Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I’m Free. Their current roster of touring theatrical shows includes: Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour, Blippi The Musical (2023 Olivier Award nomination for Best Family production), Peppa Pig Live, Sesame Street Live!, Nitro Circus 20th Anniversary Tour, Shrek the Musical (2024 US Tour), and Blue’s Clues & You! Live On Stage.
Round Room Live produced the other two exhibitions in Madrid and Vienna and it will be in London this summer.
“The expectation is it’s a touring project. It usually sits in a market for four to six months,” said Linden. “In certain markets where there’s higher demand it can stay for longer. “And so the expectation is we’re in Toronto for the summer and if there’s demand we can consider extending it a little bit and then we would go to the next North American market which we haven’t announced yet.”
Pre-sale tickets for The Formula 1 Exhibition Toronto presented by TSN go on sale March 26 at 10 am EDT and fans can register now at F1Exhibition.ca to be among the first to secure their entry. Tickets will go on sale to the general public March 28 at 10 am EDT.
“(F1) has been popular in a number of areas of the world and particularly Europe for many years and the concept of these high performance vehicles and the drivers that are taking them around the track as technology has advanced it seems as if it’s gotten on more people’s radar,” said Linden.
“There’s a Netflix series called Drive to Survive. It’s been very popular in North America. And I think it’s achieved the goal of personalizing a number of the drivers and people in the sport. It’s continued to contribute to building the popularity in North America. I think there’s a great fascination and it also helps that the Grand Prix have become sort of very upscale, exclusive, dynamic events. People see the pictures and the images of all events around the Grand Prix weekend and it has that impact that people are really fascinated by.”
