Tyre preview: Pirelli goes for a convervative route at Zandvoort

Following a three-week summer break, Formula 1 returns to action this weekend as the Circuit Zandvoort plays host to the Dutch Grand Prix – and Pirelli have confirmed the tyres that will be in use throughout the event.

F1’s official tyre suppliers have chosen the C1, C2 and C3 compounds for the tight, twisty 4.259-kilometre venue, which is made up of 10 right-hand corners and four left-hand turns.

The circuit measures 4.259 kilometres. Zandvoort is located in an area of sand dunes near the beach, with the wind sometimes blowing sand onto the track and affecting grip; an issue normally associated with places like Bahrain.

Zandvoort generates some big g forces all around the 4.2-kilometre track: braking into Turns 1 and 11 is a deceleration of about 5g, while Turn 7 also provides lateral forces of around 5g.

The track climbs and drops significantly and several sections are crowd favourites. This nature of the layout makes the circuit a very challenging location where the tiniest mistakes are punished as the run off zones are old-school gravel traps.

The track has extremely narrow asphalt strips and features a twisty layout, which means that overtaking is far from easy. The medium- and high-speed corners require a medium to high downforce set up.

Asked about the difficulties presented by the Zandvoort, Alpine's Pierre Gasly said: „It’s a bit old-school with the banking and it’s a place where you cannot make mistakes - not quite like Monaco but in the same style. There are no tarmac run off areas and if you get it wrong, you are straight in the gravel or a wall, while the corners are unusual.”

The Zandvoort circuit looks somewhat different to the track that last hosted Formula 1 in 1985 as it has been modified for its return in 2021: Turn 3 and the last one, Turn 14 (named after former circuit director John Hugenholtz and Dutch driver Arie Luyendyk respectively), now boast a 19 degree banking, which allows the drivers to go through them at much higher speeds.

Apart from the banked corners, there are other famous turns at Zandvoort. One of these famous corners is the Tarzan hairpin: the first corner of the lap, which is now closer to the start-finish line than it was previously. The Hans Ernst bend towards the end of the lap also has a wider exit than it did before, enabling drivers to get on the power sooner.

“What makes this track really unique on the championship trail are the banked Turns 3 and 14, with a gradient of 19 and 18 degrees respectively, which for a point of reference is steeper than that found at Indianapolis,” reads Pirelli’s weekend preview.

“Banked corners are not that common in Formula 1 and therefore present an unusual challenge for both car and driver. It also has an effect on the tyres, because the higher speeds of the banked turns compared to the normal ones subjects them to even greater forces.

“On paper, thermal degradation is a very significant factor, but much will depend on the weather in late August.

“The Netherlands borders Belgium and we saw before the break how climatic conditions at these latitudes can change from one day to the next and even within the space of a day, so that summer doesn’t necessarily mean warm temperatures and sunshine.

“The average temperature in Zandvoort in late August varies between 14°C and 20°C, which could help drivers manage even the softest compounds, as was seen in last year’s race when [Yuki] Tsunoda ran 50 laps on the soft.

“A further variable results from the track’s proximity to the sea shore, just one row of dunes and a street away, so that wind often coats the track with sand, thus lowering the grip available to the tyres.

“In stable, dry conditions, pre-event simulations point to a one-stop as the quickest strategy, especially as in theory, overtaking is a rare event, because the track is very narrow and there are few straights, therefore very limited passing opportunities.

“If it is hot, then the harder compounds should be favourite, but cooler weather would see the soft become a viable race tyre.”