F1 drivers share thoughts on the promoters’ decision to not continue hosting Dutch GP at Circuit Zandvoort beyond the new deal of 2026 season.
Just on the brink of the end of the 2024 F1 season, the promoters of Dutch GP announced a new one-year deal for Circuit Zandvoort to host the grand prix. It was just the one year until the 2026 season, as despite filling up the seats to its full capacity, financially it didn’t help.
The promoters run Dutch GP without the Government support and its decision to increase taxes could have increased the ticket price as well. Despite having multiple options to continue on, the decision was taken to not continue beyond the 2026 season as they know it will be hard to compete with other races.
The F1 drivers were in the dark about the reasons when asked about their opinion. But they could sense the financial aspect, which they feel is not a good sign considering how popular Zandvoort has been off-late. Also, the declining number of European races is not helping the cause too.
They don’t want a situation to have only handful of European rounds amid increase of flyaway rounds. Lando Norris, meanwhile, joked about Max Verstappen paying to keep Dutch GP, but the Dutchman declined the idea as he doesn’t want to spend on the grand prix.
Carlos Sainz: “I think it’s a very delicate matter. I don’t understand fully the whole picture of why Zandvoort may or may not stay longer than the 2026 season. I think as a whole, the sport has definitely moved towards having more races outside of Europe than in Europe. Probably for economic and obviously political and economic reasons for the sport. In an ideal world, In my opinion, the Formula 1 season should have around 20 races. Out of those 20 races, I strongly believe six to eight of them should be in Europe because that’s where the sport comes from. And all of the others should remain rotational.
“If Zandvoort cannot keep the budget to run a Formula 1 race when some other races can, it doesn’t mean I think Zandvoort should completely disappear from the calendar, but maybe come back every two or three years back to a calendar to give all the Dutch fans and all the supporter of Max the opportunity to watch Max live, you know, and the same would apply to Spain, the same would apply to the UK if that’s ever the case. So, yeah, find ways to, even if these old school circuits, European circuits that maybe don’t have the big budgets that outside of Europe, they have these budgets, still find a way to give them the opportunity to keep coming back to a calendar now and then. I don’t know if it’s doable or not, but in my ideal F1 calendar scenario, I would try and fit that in.”
Oscar Piastri: “Yeah, I mean, much of the message is the same. I think we need to be careful as a sport not to get rid of all the tracks that we all grew up racing on and loving. I think if you ask most of the drivers on the grid, their favourite track, maybe apart from Suzuka, is probably guaranteed to be in Europe somewhere. And I think we need to be careful to not get rid of all of these tracks. There’s some that already aren’t on the calendar that I think we all would love to go back racing on. Again, I don’t know the full ins and outs of why Zandvoort is not returning after 2026.
“It’s a bit of a logistical challenge racing in Zandvoort, with the layout of the track and the kind of split paddock and stuff like that, so it is demanding and obviously we’re getting another team which is going to add to that demand. But yeah I think we need to be wary as a sport that a lot of the tracks that will disappear from the calendar are probably the ones that we all love a lot. So, yeah, I think we just need to be a bit careful with which ones we get rid of.”
Lewis Hamilton: “So much time to think about what to say. I mean, I agree with the comments so far. I mean, I think it’s really sad to be losing Zandvoort, particularly if you look, the crowd is incredible there. There’s such a huge following, obviously, mostly for Max, but in general, the fans are what make the sport what it is. And then there are several races in the calendar – I’m not going to mention which ones, but you know which ones – which don’t have a lot of people that come, yet financially, obviously, they can cover, I guess, whatever the cost is. So I don’t know. I think the business is doing very, very well. And I think we’ve got to make sure we hold on to the heritage races, which Zandvoort, for me, is one of those.”
Lando Norris: “I don’t know the reason why it is only 2026, maybe media knows more than me. I enjoy it, we had a great one in 2024, it is always a very fun weekend for me. It has some of the more passionate and exciting fans of the whole season, so it is one of the races that I genuinely enjoy the most, even though all of them are there for Max. It is the one that I really enjoy it, good atmosphere, good music, it is busy, it is noisy. It is definitely a lot further on my list than a lot of other tracks, so I am surprised why it is not going further, but I don’t know all the reasons for things. Yeah, money talks a lot now a days. It is a shame, to be honest, Max earns enough, Max can just pay it himself. If h wants a home race then he should do it out of his own pocket. Max should pay.”
Max Verstappen: “Of course, when I look at it, it’s something that I’m sad about, that it’s not going to continue. But on the other hand also, I’m very proud of what they have done. When I started in Formula 1, I would have never imagined that we would go back to Zandvoort. And the races that we’ve had there, the event that they put on, I have a lot of respect for that and I’m proud that I played a part in that as well. Seeing all the fans there was and is of course amazing and I’m really looking forward to the final two years. But they can be very proud of what they have achieved. I think the final year, ’26, with a sprint event also, they say they’re going to go out with a bang.
“So I’m also very excited to see that. I do have it [money to pay], but I’m not going to spend it on the race. In the end, of course, it is the decision of the circuit itself. You can’t be dismissive of that. I am very proud that we have achieved that: another Grand Prix on Dutch soil. I think when I started in Formula 1, it didn’t look like that, but in the end, it’s nice that it was made possible. I do look back on it with pride. It is still very special to be able to win your home Grand Prix a couple of times.”
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