AUGUST 26, 2023

Dutch GP every two years a possibility?

It is possible Zandvoort will have to settle for hosting a Dutch GP once every two years.

The highly popular event has an annual contract only until 2025 - and circuit director Robert van Overdijk admits that talks with Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali may not be straightforward.

Whether we still prefer to be on the calendar every year after 2025 is still the question, he told de Telegraaf newspaper.

He says the contract talks will hit a high gear only in 2024.

It will be about what FOM wants after 2025, said the Dutchman. "How many races do they want in Europe and what would a rotation schedule look like.

"They have already indicated that they want to spread the races even further all over the world. And that can only be at the expense of one continent - Europe.

Only when we have clarity about this can we think properly about it.

It seems that, if Zandvoort does have to alternate each year, it would be with Spa-Francorchamps.

Some, however, find it hard to believe that F1 would forgo an annual Dutch GP when the dominant world champion is Max Verstappen.

It's not so simple for us that you can say that because Verstappen is here until 2028, so too will Zandvoort be, said van Overdijk.

The interest of the public and the business community determines Zandvoort's raison d'etre after 2025. We are of course positive about it, but it is by no means a certainty.
(GMM)