Zandvoort investigating possible return to F1 in 2018

[notsofast]

Apparently the town of Zandvoort is starting an investigation to determine whether F1 could be brought back to their circuit in 2018. It's all very early stage, so let's not get excited. Any thoughts on whether Zandvoort would be a good addition to the F1 calendar? There hasn't been an F1 race there in 30 years. Is it suitable for today's F1 cars?

[Manoah2u]

No. The track does not conform to current F1 safety standards. Offcourse that could be worked out and adjusted, but that would cost quite a fortune and would probably need to have the circuit changed.

Not just that, but the pitbox and grandstands are painfully outdated and need an entire overhaul.

So first of all, the entire track and location is not capable of hosting an F1 race without total overhauling.

that's problem 1.

problem 2 is the infrastructure does not allow the gigantic mess the traffic would cause. Zandvoort is a major (German) tourist attraction for beach visits, and already causes giant traffic problems in any normal day. The routes toward the location simply are not capable of housing traffic of these proportions. That would mean the routes must be altered aswell. Not gonna happen.

problem 3 : the environment.

Zandvoort, though a regular tourist attraction - mostly housing German tourists that come to the sea, is hopelessly outdated. There are only a handfull of Hotels that are up to current standards and most restaurants, etc are just simply outdated. Acceptable for a weekend at the beach, but nothing more than that. Certainly not a worthy visiting card.

problem 4: the people living around it would never allow it to happen.

There are bunch of environmentalists living in the area and they're quite active in blocking 'loud' activities from the circuit. as crazy as that sounds, it is the truth. there would be too much protest from their so called 'sound pollution', not to mention the traffic it causes, that it's just not reasonably possible.

Which, is a shame. Because Zandvoort is a great track full of history. I've driven there a couple of times and it's a great fun track.

Zandvoort is a NO-GO.

Assen however might prove different. I remember there was suggestions of building a racetrack near the Amsterdam Schiphol airport but that was years ago and i don't know what happened to these ideas.

[Jolle]

No. The track does not conform to current F1 safety standards. Offcourse that could be worked out and adjusted, but that would cost quite a fortune and would probably need to have the circuit changed.

Not just that, but the pitbox and grandstands are painfully outdated and need an entire overhaul.

So first of all, the entire track and location is not capable of hosting an F1 race without total overhauling.

that's problem 1.

problem 2 is the infrastructure does not allow the gigantic mess the traffic would cause. Zandvoort is a major (German) tourist attraction for beach visits, and already causes giant traffic problems in any normal day. The routes toward the location simply are not capable of housing traffic of these proportions. That would mean the routes must be altered aswell. Not gonna happen.

problem 3 : the environment.

Zandvoort, though a regular tourist attraction - mostly housing German tourists that come to the sea, is hopelessly outdated. There are only a handfull of Hotels that are up to current standards and most restaurants, etc are just simply outdated. Acceptable for a weekend at the beach, but nothing more than that. Certainly not a worthy visiting card.

problem 4: the people living around it would never allow it to happen.

There are bunch of environmentalists living in the area and they're quite active in blocking 'loud' activities from the circuit. as crazy as that sounds, it is the truth. there would be too much protest from their so called 'sound pollution', not to mention the traffic it causes, that it's just not reasonably possible.

Which, is a shame. Because Zandvoort is a great track full of history. I've driven there a couple of times and it's a great fun track.

Zandvoort is a NO-GO.

Assen however might prove different. I remember there was suggestions of building a racetrack near the Amsterdam Schiphol airport but that was years ago and i don't know what happened to these ideas.

I agree, I love the track, It has one of the most exciting weird corner in the world, the "schijvlak", where you feel to be out of control and going too fast until you get to the bottom and suddenly you have massive grip.

But at the moment it's very track orientated, great to drive but poorly to visit as a spectator. It ain't the seventies anymore...

It would need to be completely rebuild (even the track because it's too narrow) plus big infrastructure changes. It would make more scense, if you want the Bernie Show in your country, to build a new complex near all the facilities, like the polders of Assen indeed

[Manoah2u]

It's just a no-go for Zandvoort so that'll never absolutely never happen. For shows it's allright. A GP - no.
Assen would be interesting but quite frankly, it's too far away in the country from where most of the 'citizens' are coming from for Bernie to go there. Well, let's just state that the organiser - whom has to pay Bernie a gigantic fee - would not deem Assen as a suitable location.

As a MOTO GP track, Assen has made it's name and does it's deal. For F1, it's a different story.



I don't believe Assen at this moment is capable of hosting an F1 GP and i doubt it would have interest to 'construct' itself
into one.

There simply is no F1 Track available in the Netherlands at this point so there would be the need to construct one. Government money is not gonna happen so skip that one. It doesn't matter if the VVD political party is stating they have interest, it's just not gonna happen and the VVD is only making an unofficial statement because they would try and get followers any way they can with elections not too far away. Besides, the country has trouble enough in dealing with the massive refugee stream, so F1 has no game in any politics there.

Street circuit would be an option but that's not gonna happen either. Rotterdam city racing is just an event and in no way is any city capable of hosting an F1 GP. Biggest problem in the Netherlands would be infrastructure.

You have to keep F1 logistics and fan traffic in mind, and the entire scene will have to be shut off for about a week.

and, last but not least, interest. With Germany not able to host a F1 GP, supposedly due to lack of interest, how would NL host one? Just because there's a fun rookie dutch F1 driver?

nah, this will not happen.

[Sombrero]

For Zandvoort Grand prix fans there's a book + movies about its F-1 past.

http://www.zandvoortgrandprix.com/en/



I saw very good racing there on TV in 1975-76-77 and 1979 plus 1985. I plan to watch the DVD after the MotoGP race tomorrow. If somebody wants a short review I will post it sunday night.

[bdr529]

For Zandvoort Grand prix fans there's a book + movies about its F-1 past.
If somebody wants a short review I will post it sunday night.

Yes Please

[Sombrero]

This is a short review of the movie (77 minutes).

The story of the Grand Prix racing at the Zandvoort track between 1948 and 1985 is brilliantly told by Jan Lammers. The movie is a firework. There's a lot of things to discover : the old Zandvoort road race before WWII, the building and evolution of the track and most of the GP races held there. The documentary combines nicely the local history of the track with the global evolution of the sport into a multi-million business.

There's a technical approach with the racing of 2L, 2.5L, 1.5L and then 3L/1.5T F-1 engines formulae. We can see much of the drivers, the cars and the engines during those periods. For each era (50's, 60's, 70's, 80's) the commentary of Stirling Moss, Jacky Ickx, Gjis Van Lennep and René Arnoux (in frenglish) give the atmosphere of the time.

It's nice to have Stirling Moss and Jacky Ickx reflecting about safety instead of Jackie Stewart. One of the highlight is the 1973 tragedy Roger Williamson horrible death with contributions from Martijn Lindenberg the realisator of the TV live broadcast and Gjis Van Lennep. David Purley has the last word in an interview made the next day after the accident. It's the first time that the story is told as it was.

The late 1970's races may have been the Golden Age of the Zandvoort track. F-1 was becoming more and more popular but also more and more expensive for the dutch organizeers. There was a possibility of a new start with Michel Hordo, the canadian businessman but it failed. The Dutch GP was then in Bernie's hands and used as a political weapon during the FISA/FOCA war. Finally in 1985 the picture was on the wall and Zandvoort became history.

[NL_Fer]

The two main roads to zandvoort, lead you via a tiny roundabout in Overveen, the other over an ingersection in Heemstede, next to a primary school. They can hardly handle the traffic on a sunny day in September or May. Chaos in the main summer season.

I think the only suitable location would be around the Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol). They have enough hotel capacity and can handle the traffic from most directions, by car train and of course air. To bad it is flat, would be a boring track.

[proteus]

Strongly against getting Zandvoort back for F1. there is a simple explanation for that: The track itself is too iconic, well configurated and good looking to be putted in hands of Tilke to destroy it completely with changed corners (for "improved" safety) and tarmacted like an airport. Some things are just better as they are. It would be better to construct a brand new track where Tilke could use his "talent" fior making another boring 10 lane highway with runoff areas big enough to land 747 planes. Seriously, there should be atleast 25% of tighter tracks (like Hungarian GP) on the calendar.

http://www.stefanjohansson.com/blog/

[PlatinumZealot]

Strongly against getting Zandvoort back for F1. there is a simple explanation for that: The track itself is too iconic, well configurated and good looking to be putted in hands of Tilke to destroy it completely with changed corners (for "improved" safety) and tarmacted like an airport. Some things are just better as they are. It would be better to construct a brand new track where Tilke could use his "talent" fior making another boring 10 lane highway with runoff areas big enough to land 747 planes. Seriously, there should be atleast 25% of tighter tracks (like Hungarian GP) on the calendar.

http://www.stefanjohansson.com/blog/

He didn't screw with the RedBull ring that much... so there is hope.

[Godius]

BBC: Dutch Grand Prix: Zandvoort set to return to the calendar for 2020

The race is set to be held on the weekend of 8-10 May, effectively taking the place of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Asked to confirm the deal, F1 boss Chase Carey told BBC Sport: "I don't preview announcements. We'll announce it when we announce it on Tuesday."

[Wouter]

Yesterday a journalist from the AD was talking to Sean Bratches.

"Asked when white smoke will finally come about the return of a Dutch Grand Prix, Sean Bratches did not ignore/deny it.
" The conclave of the cardinals is still ongoing, but we know more quickly," the commercial Director of Formula 1 responded with a smile.
When, did this site want to know Within three days, four days, five days? "Warm, warm, warmer", it sounded from the
mouth of Bratches, who confirmed that he would come next week [to the Netherlands]. "I am indeed going there, yes."

[oT v1]

I guess it will happen lol!

The last race there was way before my time but the videos I’ve seen look very cool! Happy for Ves/NL to have a race again they’ve been substantial at quite a few GPs, and very vocal, so it should be a great atmosphere

[Wouter]

There will be a press conference in Zandvoort tomorrow at 11.00 a.m. local time.
This was said on Dutch tv by Olav Mol. He didn't say anything else.

Heineken and Chase Carey will be present and the name will be "'Heineken Dutch Grand Prix'".
This was said during the program.

This is at the circuit this evening. (Photo @rorov8)

[Sieper]

The track is very challenging, and a classic track. Always better to regain one then to loose another. I just hope there will be Some overtake opportunities for the actual races. Which indeed now seem very close!