2021 Dutch Grand Prix - Zandvoort Sept 3 - 5

[bosyber]

Isn't he? I thought so. Then I apologize.
Why did you say "I can guarantee you a big fat no." ? Why wouldn't they?

I'm not a lewis guy, i'm not a max guy, i'm not a schumacher guy, i've ever only been a Senna guy,
and the only other driver i genuinly felt rooting for was Button @ his Brawn season.

Apart from that i'm a fan of the sport, the competition, and fair, honest, and sportsman achievements.
I have greater respect for Lewis compared to Max not only because of his achievements, but also the way he achieves them and his attitude.

I have little respect yet for Max, but for some of his results in certain races. I am not blind to his capabilities, but then again i can't say i've seen him do anything really extraordinary really that would deserve the 'groupie commitment' a fair amount of people have got for him, including some in this very board, and many mainly due to 1 thing only: his nationality, and nothing else, which is why i look at him far more critical.

That's not to say i don't want him to succeed, win and have a great fight and that he deserves certain results, but that goes just as much for Hamilton, etc.

The big fat no is because all the year, all the circumstances surrounding were focused and aimed at 1 thing and 1 thing only, not neccesarily the return of the dutch GP, but Driver #33 winning at the Dutch GP, every single thing is completely aimed at that, and it's as nationalistic to the bone as it was.
And really, i don't mind that either, honestly, i get it. it's not a point of critisism at all (except for the unacceptable 33 speed limit, but that is another discussion). I was impressed too with the crowd and i was very happy to see no booing at all towards Hamilton. I think it was a great weekend albeit the actual race being just a bit boring and sterile.

The big fat no simply is because it was again, because of the dutchman winning the dutch GP. it wasn't the final GP of the season, and I really don't think the race would have been so happily recieved if Max didn't win it, no matter which driver.

I very much believe it was purposefully for Max, and again, i don't even mind, i don't bother by any means.
I liked the gesture, it was spectacular and it's great. Hell, i think it would be fantastic for the British GP too to have fireworks if a British driver wins, at the Aussie when an Aussie wins, German, french, etc etc.

But as for me personally - and i could be very mistaken - i really do not believe the fireworks were ever intended for anybody but Max. And that's why i'd say a big fat no.

No, you are mistaken.

I was born 10 miles from the circuit. I don’t live there anymore but I spent many happy days around the circuit. It might not show on television, but it is a beautiful place. Maybe I am biased, I’ve been to many circuits but the flow of this one is special, courtesy of Hans hugenholtz.

I can’t think of many thinks than better than sitting on these dunes on a sunny Sunday afternoon with some friends looking at some Citroen Saxo’s snaking through the dunes.

But to be honest the place was slowly falling apart. The circuit had troubles attracting major series and slowly fell in disrepair. They where hurt pretty badly when Marlboro pulled out of the Masters. They tried to reverse that an hat Indycar and DTM, but every year the circuit looked worse for wear.

Of course the celebration was for Verstappen. But the main thing was that F1 got back to Zandvoort and made place relevant again. And I can assure you that these fireworks have gone off whoever had won, just to celebrate that

I know that my feelings to sometimes tend towards those Manoah2u described, but I have also visited Zandvoort a few times when cars were going around, and those last two paragraphs from Edax definitely ring true.

I think that, despite many people in the Netherlands being against the race (motoracing, event while other things aren't allowed due to covid, pollution, noise all of that), and way too much media bias for Verstappen in NL, the event itself was mainly driven by love for the track and motorsport, as well as money for (some) of the organisers.

They used the fact Max Verstappen is around as a crutch/opportunity to (finally) get it done, and actually did admirably well at it all things considered, including it looking like a great party for many people, the drivers and f1-media all enjoying the experience, and only 88 people infected on a total of ~700k over the weekend, and having all the garbage cleaned afterwards; sure they had to, but they did it as promised.

[PlatinumZealot]

This track would certainly benefit from tyres one step softer but we will see Pirelli mete out a conservative selection again next year due to to the new chassis rules.

[Manoah2u]

Don't get me wrong, i think it's fantastic F1 is back @ Zandvoort. It's an iconic location and yes i am glad it got updated, hopefully it'll be a benefit for the future too. I also believe it was the right place, i don't believe Assen would have been the right place to race.

To a certain degree i feel it's a bit of a thing though. I really don't believe F1 would have come back to Zandvoort without a successfull Dutch F1 driver - obviously Verstappen - competing.
And that for me makes it more that it's rather 'about Verstappen' than really the circuit, and it's partly because of that where i am a bit divided - well, it's still great anyway though - and that's because to be honest, it would have been more about the track imho if Zandvoort returned to the F1 calender without a Dutch driver in F1.

I know commerce doesn't work like that though, so it's good either way. But Zandvoort is a legendary circuit. What i do hope for though is that there will be more 'racing' next year, as i felt a bit underwhelmed. It's a great track and i have driven on it in it's old configuration, and was really amazed by it and how engaging it was. As quite frankly, it really doesn't look that 'racy' from a spectator's point.

Whatever the thing though, it was great to see it back. It's going to be interesting to see how things are going to go from here. If we indeed have De Vries @ Alfa next season that's gonna be great too imho. Perhaps the future will have the venue switch between Zandvoort and Spa - if there are too many tracks in one season - that'll be allright though.
Either way, indeed, F1 returning to Zandvoort has boosted the venue's quality so it's going to be great for many recurring events.

I'd love to drive on the new layout though, but i haven't got the car(s) that i had some fun on it before, and i'm packing stuff to move to Spain in December, so it's unlikely i ever will.

[El Scorchio]

Don't get me wrong, i think it's fantastic F1 is back @ Zandvoort. It's an iconic location and yes i am glad it got updated, hopefully it'll be a benefit for the future too. I also believe it was the right place, i don't believe Assen would have been the right place to race.

To a certain degree i feel it's a bit of a thing though. I really don't believe F1 would have come back to Zandvoort without a successfull Dutch F1 driver - obviously Verstappen - competing.
And that for me makes it more that it's rather 'about Verstappen' than really the circuit, and it's partly because of that where i am a bit divided - well, it's still great anyway though - and that's because to be honest, it would have been more about the track imho if Zandvoort returned to the F1 calender without a Dutch driver in F1.

I know commerce doesn't work like that though, so it's good either way. But Zandvoort is a legendary circuit. What i do hope for though is that there will be more 'racing' next year, as i felt a bit underwhelmed. It's a great track and i have driven on it in it's old configuration, and was really amazed by it and how engaging it was. As quite frankly, it really doesn't look that 'racy' from a spectator's point.

Whatever the thing though, it was great to see it back. It's going to be interesting to see how things are going to go from here. If we indeed have De Vries @ Alfa next season that's gonna be great too imho. Perhaps the future will have the venue switch between Zandvoort and Spa - if there are too many tracks in one season - that'll be allright though.
Either way, indeed, F1 returning to Zandvoort has boosted the venue's quality so it's going to be great for many recurring events.

I'd love to drive on the new layout though, but i haven't got the car(s) that i had some fun on it before, and i'm packing stuff to move to Spain in December, so it's unlikely i ever will.

I think it will be interesting to see if the appetite from the Dutch fans is still there when Verstappen has retired. I can see it now being a fixture until then, unless the races are consistently awful. If ticket sales nosedive, then they'll remove it from the calendar.

However, I wonder with the Netherlands being in such a great position geographically and the circuit being pretty close to Amsterdam (even cyclable) if it turns out to be an attractive location for fans from all over Europe. It's a lovely little short hop from London and there are some nice beach towns all along the coast. Far nicer for a weekend trip than many of the circuits.

[BassVirolla]

Don't get me wrong, i think it's fantastic F1 is back @ Zandvoort. It's an iconic location and yes i am glad it got updated, hopefully it'll be a benefit for the future too. I also believe it was the right place, i don't believe Assen would have been the right place to race.

To a certain degree i feel it's a bit of a thing though. I really don't believe F1 would have come back to Zandvoort without a successfull Dutch F1 driver - obviously Verstappen - competing.
And that for me makes it more that it's rather 'about Verstappen' than really the circuit, and it's partly because of that where i am a bit divided - well, it's still great anyway though - and that's because to be honest, it would have been more about the track imho if Zandvoort returned to the F1 calender without a Dutch driver in F1.

I know commerce doesn't work like that though, so it's good either way. But Zandvoort is a legendary circuit. What i do hope for though is that there will be more 'racing' next year, as i felt a bit underwhelmed. It's a great track and i have driven on it in it's old configuration, and was really amazed by it and how engaging it was. As quite frankly, it really doesn't look that 'racy' from a spectator's point.

Whatever the thing though, it was great to see it back. It's going to be interesting to see how things are going to go from here. If we indeed have De Vries @ Alfa next season that's gonna be great too imho. Perhaps the future will have the venue switch between Zandvoort and Spa - if there are too many tracks in one season - that'll be allright though.
Either way, indeed, F1 returning to Zandvoort has boosted the venue's quality so it's going to be great for many recurring events.

I'd love to drive on the new layout though, but i haven't got the car(s) that i had some fun on it before, and i'm packing stuff to move to Spain in December, so it's unlikely i ever will.

I think it will be interesting to see if the appetite from the Dutch fans is still there when Verstappen has retired. I can see it now being a fixture until then, unless the races are consistently awful. If ticket sales nosedive, then they'll remove it from the calendar.

However, I wonder with the Netherlands being in such a great position geographically and the circuit being pretty close to Amsterdam (even cyclable) if it turns out to be an attractive location for fans from all over Europe. It's a lovely little short hop from London and there are some nice beach towns all along the coast. Far nicer for a weekend trip than many of the circuits.

... and that's the main thing that makes Montmeló remain at the calendar:

- Nice turistic place (Barcelona & Catalonia)

Nevertheless, Montmeló will remain also for:
- Being a good place for winter testing.
- Being placed in continental Europe, easy to reach for british F1 fans (a lot of them come here every year!).

And will remain despite:
- Low interest in F1 by locals, now that Alonso doesn't drive a top car.
- Relatively far from Barcelona (25km) with not too good public transport.
- Very boring races, always.

I see some similarities between Zandvoort and Montmeló, except for the winter climate.

If the paddock / pits of Zandvoort can be upgraded, I don't see too many of a problem to keep it in the calendar.