Why the Dutch Grand Prix proved itself as a top-line F1 event

There were two Dutch Grands Prix on display at Zandvoort last weekend. One was a decent enough Formula 1 race won comfortably by Max Verstappen and in part decided by Mercedes’ slightly tepid crack at an undercut. It wasn’t a contest that will go down in history as one of the all-time greats. Although Verstappen’s opening lap just might…

The second Dutch GP was one to be remembered as a sporting event. Orange smoke billowing from countless flares to obscure the view on track, cheers to almost drown out the turbo hybrids and an overwhelmingly positive buzz that was every bit the match for a packed Wembley during the 10 minutes leading up to kickoff for the Championship playoff final.

Possibly the loudest outbreak of noise from the 70,000-strong attendance arrived in FP2 as Lewis Hamilton pulled over with an oil pressure irregularity aboard his W12. But that pleasingly didn’t set the tone. Booing was almost non-existent come race day. Any hostility towards the seven-time champion, the home favourite’s fiercest rival, was pretty much undetectable.

Even Hamilton, who had to briefly check his words, went some way to conceding that the support inside the circuit for F1 was a step even beyond his beloved Silverstone. “It looks great,” he said in deference to the flares. “There was a period when you couldn’t see much through [Turns] 11 and 12.

“The crowd has been insane all weekend. I don’t think I’ve seen… I mean the British crowd is naturally my favourite but these guys, the energy here has been crazy. I think where this track is probably better than Silverstone is that at the Silverstone circuit, the grandstands are so far away. They need binoculars to see where we’re going round. Here, they’re right on the track like the olden days. We need that.”

The appetite from the crowd was simply sensational. Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez didn’t follow the race build-up convention of jumping on the back of a lorry for the driver parade. Instead, they rode round on a garish Red Bull-branded golf cart dressed up to resemble a Hummer.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing waving to the fans

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

From the paddock, with no view of the circuit, you could accurately plot where they were on track as the roars passed from one bank of seating to the next. It was close to the cliched ‘festival atmosphere’. That, bear in mind, came on a day when Verstappen wasn’t particularly active in playing to his fans by whipping them up into more of a frenzy. He was a touch detached as he zeroed in on the race start.

A few grumbles over dodgy wifi and poor signage on approach to Zandvoort aside, the organisation was stellar. Traffic was minimal given the size of the event, with only 2% of visitors arriving by car. F1’s statistics quote 34% turning up by bicycle and the overwhelming majority making use of the upgraded infrastructure at the local train station.

"The Netherlands, and Zandvoort in particular, have really been put on the map internationally. I stand here as proud as a peacock that we have achieved something that many thought would be impossible" Zandvoort's Event Director Robert van Overdijk

Thanks to the global health crisis, however, it wasn’t all completely sweetness and light. Fan attendance was capped at two thirds – a directive that came less than a month before the race and at a cost of £8.5million in refunds and deferred tickets. Viewers might not have cottoned on, however, as the global TV feed made use of cute camera angles to ensure the vacant grey seats blended into the sea of orange and gave the impression of a capacity crowd.

Jan Lammers, the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours winner and Dutch GP sporting director, made it clear that the return of the race to the calendar for the first time since 1985 arrives without a penny of government funding. While that’s commendable, the future of the event is dependent on maximum attendance being permitted for what is initially a three-year contract.

After only three days of use, though, it’s already clear that losing the extraordinary multi-line banked rollercoaster that is Turn 3, Hugenholtz, from the schedule would be a crying shame. It’s absolutely a match for any other single corner in F1. Although the confines behind are incredibly tight, it’s almost worthy of a grandstand of its own so fans can appreciate the widely contrasting approaches taken by Fernando Alonso, Verstappen and Lando Norris.

PLUS: Could Zandvoort's challenging layout inspire other F1 circuits to change tack?

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, and Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Event director Robert van Overdijk was completely right to declare the weekend as a triumph. He said: “The Netherlands, and Zandvoort in particular, have really been put on the map internationally. I stand here as proud as a peacock that we, together with our fans, partners, suppliers, have achieved something that many thought would be impossible. Thanks to Dutch entrepreneurship and organisational skills, everything comes together at this event and together we have made history.”

In short, it was an astonishing start to Zandvoort’s second life in the top-flight. Not only was last weekend enough to entice repeat business from those who were there, but it should now become a destination race for overseas fans to want to attend having been jealous not to this time around.

Long may Zandvoort continue for the suspected 15-year shelf life it possesses while box-office draw Verstappen is still competing at the pinnacle.

Fans set off orange smoke flares in the grandstands

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images