Verstappen glad Zandvoort kept old-school feel for F1 return

An extensive upgrade was completed at Zandvoort ahead of the planned return of Formula 1 on May 3, only for the coronavirus epidemic to force the postponement of the race.

Renovations to the track layout were completed at the end of February, allowing Verstappen to complete a demonstration run in a 2012-spec Red Bull RB8 at the start of March.

Verstappen was able to sample the new banked corners at Turn 3 and Turn 14, designed to aid overtaking and allow drivers to take multiple lines.

"I think Turn 3 and the last corner, they look pretty impressive when you are going through the corner," Verstappen said.

"It looks really nice. They did a really good job in renovating the track.

"It was a lot of fun to drive already with a V8 car, so I think already with these cars, it will be even better."

The Zandvoort layout set to be used for the Dutch Grand Prix remains tight and twisting, offering few obvious overtaking opportunities.

But Verstappen did not see any issues with this, saying that as the old-school feel of the track had been retained, it would punish any errors made by drivers.

"It's the same at Monaco, or when you go to Suzuka, it's also very old school and it's not very wide," Verstappen said.

"I don't think that is a problem. I actually quite like it. It's better than having tarmac everywhere, and when you make a mistake you just run wide.

"It's just going to depend a bit on whether we are able to overtake and stuff."