Formula One Vault

PRIXVIEW – Dutch Grand Prix

Round fifteen kicks off the second half of the season with the start of a triple header and a trip to the seaside at Zandvoort and the Dutch Grand Prix, to end the summer break. This weekend is set to be the penultimate running at least for now at Zandvoort, a race which

The origins of the modern circuit began during the Nazi occupation when the mayor convinced the local administration to construct a straight road through the dunes down which the Germans could hold impressive parades once victory had been achieved. Soon after the war the circuit was built using existing roads before moving to the purpose-built circuit in 1948, before becoming a world championship round in 1952.

Throughout its history, Zandvoort has been a popular circuit with drivers, as it’s an old circuit, meaning the risk versus reward is higher because of the fast sweeping corners. But it’s also a circuit where you need a bit of straight-line speed for the final sector and main straight, making it a circuit of conflicting demands. The circuit is also where drivers need to be careful, as it has retained much of the grass and gravel, which means mistakes can be more costly.

From its earliest days and since its return to the calendar, Zandvoort has been a hugely popular circuit with drivers and fans. It’s a medium-speed, flowing circuit similar to Suzuka. But that shouldn’t be a surprise because the two circuits were designed originally partly by the Dutch journalist turned-designer John Hugenholtz. His son was the designer for the basis of the modern circuit, which was built in 2019.

The circuit has always been popular with drivers because of its conflicting demands and it’s a high-risk risk high-reward circuit, with drivers needing to build confidence in practice as the weekend goes on. That was retained when Hugenholtz Jr modernised the circuit in the late 2010s.

Although often credited with designing the Zandvoort circuit as well, the layout was largely dictated by the existing road layout, with Sammy Davis acting as the principal design consultant. The first sector largely follows the original layout before the newer section was first built in the 1980s after F1 left the circuit.

Tarzan the first corner was reprofiled for the sport’s return with banking, which provides drivers with several different lines. But it has other banked corners, Gerlanch and the almost bowl-shaped hairpin Hugenholtz as well as Turn Twelve.

Although the race debuted in 1948 then a non-championship race in 1950, and featured something similar to the sprint format we had in 2021-22, with the top ten in ‘SQ1’ and ‘SQ2’ taking to the grid for the sprint, which then set the grid. The grand prix was won from pole by Prince Bira despite engine problems; he held off Tony Rolff to take victory by just a car’s length.

The first championship race took place in 1952, Ferrari dominated the weekend with Alberto Ascari winning from pole ahead of  teammates Giuseppe Farina and Luigi Villoresi finished in second and third places. Ascari overtook Fangio’s record for the most race wins, scoring his seventh at this race.

1955 Mercedes continued the domination of the season, with Juan Manuel Fangio and Briton Stirling Moss dominating the proceedings; Moss followed Fangio closely all the way. Moss would win the following year, and in 1958, while Jo Bonnier took his only win in 1959.

In the mid-sixties, the race was dominated by Jim Clark, with the Lotus 49 taking victory on debut in 1967. The DFV engine became hugely popular and is the most successful power unit in F1 history, remaining in use for the next eighteen years.

The 1970s saw Zandvoort have many fatal accidents. The Williams driver Piers Courage, when he crashed at Oost with a wheel, came off and hit him on the head. The car, with Courage still in it, then caught fire and burned to the ground. 1973 saw yet another driver killed, on lap eight when Roger Williamson crashed, ultimately killing him.

1970 race saw Jochen Rindt start a run of four wins in a row, which despite his death at Monza and retirement at the Red Bull Ring, as it’s known now, which secured him the championship and made him the only driver to be posthumously win the Drivers’ Championship. 1971 saw Jacky Ickx win a race-long battle with Pedro Rodriguez.

After a year off for redevelopment, the new circuit opened in 1973, but a disaster struck during the race. Roger Williamson (in only his second-ever Formula One race) crashed heavily near Tunnel Oost, and his car caught fire while scraping along the tarmac. Williamson was uninjured during the crash, but time was running out; he could not free himself from the car. Williamson’s countryman, David Purley, stopped alongside, crossed the track and ran over to the burning March. Purley tried in vain to turn the car upright.

There appeared to have been ample time to right the car and pull Williamson out, but as desperately as he tried, Purley was unable to do it by himself, and the marshals, who were not wearing flame-retardant overalls, were unable and unwilling to help due to the intense heat. Race control assumed that it was Purley’s car that had crashed and that the driver had escaped unharmed. Purley was awarded the George Medal for his bravery by Queen Elizabeth II for his actions, with Jackie Stewart setting the then record for number of wins.

1975 saw James Hunt win his first championship Formula One race in his Hesketh. Hunt would win again in 1976, as Lauda recovered from his crash at the Nürburgring. Hunt’s battle with Mario Andretti was a defining moment in the following year’s race. The Americans attempted an ambitious move to pass the Englishman at Tarzan, but they touch taken them both out of the race.

1979 there was another series of accidents Gilles Villeneuve had crashed there while battling ferociously with Alan Jones and damaged his left-rear suspension. The damage to Jones wasn’t apparent straight away, but was forced to retire at half distance.

1982 event was won by Frenchman Didier Pironi in a Ferrari; his countryman René Arnoux had a dreadful crash at the end of the pit straight, going into Tarzan; his front suspension failed on his ground-effect Renault and he went head-on into the barriers; fortunately, he was uninjured

1983 saw a clash between Prost and title rival Nelson Piquet. Prost tried to pass Piquet at Tarzan, but the Frenchman punted Piquet off, and Prost crashed soon afterwards. 1985 saw Lauda take his 25th and final Grand Prix victory while holding off his charging McLaren teammate Prost near the end of the race

The success of Max Verstappen saw the race’s revival for the 2020s, and the Dutchman has won three of the four races. The 2021 race saw him undercut championship rival Lewis Hamilton to dominate the race with a twenty-second win, the Belgian-Dutch driver looked unstoppable as he steadily managed to grow the gap through the opening stint. Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas tried to go after Red Bull.

Verstappen took pole again in 2022, and converted it into back-to-back wins after overtaking Hamilton with ten laps to go. The Dutchman undercut the Mercedes using the undercut during the safety car, then launched his way passed Hamilton. Mercedes looked to have been on course for their first one-two of the season as the car showed to have better pace in the latter stages of the race, but it resulted in Hamilton dropping to fourth while Russell couldn’t chase down Verstappen on the final restart. Charles Leclerc also found his way past Hamilton to take second.

Pole again was taken by Verstappen in 2023; he was half a second ahead of Lando Norris. His record-breaking season continued with his ninth win in a row, equalling Sebastian Vettel as well as his third win in a row at Zandvoort, but it was one of the smallest winning margins in 2023. Fernando Alonso was second, the Aston Martin driver finishing two seconds behind Verstappen and set his own record for the longest time between the first and latest podium dating back to Malaysia 2003. Alonso, in the closing sprint, couldn’t get close enough to stop Verstappen from claiming another home win at Zandvoort.

Race & Circuit Guide

Fast facts

• It is the first Grand Prix to have its own music track called Lights Out by Job Smeltzer, better known as La Fuente, which was played after the national anthem at the 2023 race.
• Jo Bonnier recorded the only win, podium and pole position of his F1 career at the Dutch Grand Prix in 1959. It was also the first of 17 wins and 11 pole positions for BRM.
• In the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix, Jackie Stewart took his 26th win. In doing so, Stewart surpassed fellow Scot Jim Clark’s record of F1 wins. Stewart would win one more race in his career, and his tally of 27 wins would stand as the record until Alain Prost took his 28th Grand Prix victory in 1987.
• Local legend has it that the infamous Tarzan corner is a homage to a man who would only relinquish his vegetable garden on the plot of land where the circuit was to be built if the track had a corner named after him.
• Being situated on the North Sea coast, Zandvoort is almost as close to some UK households as Silverstone. Those living in Harwich are only 179 miles from the main entrance of the racetrack.

Event timetable

What happened in 2024?

FP1 saw Lando Norris top the wet and windy session with a 12.302, which put him two-tenths faster than Max Verstappen, with Lewis Hamilton third. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, on medium-compound tyres rather than the soft used by those ahead of him, was fourth. Mercedes’ George Russell was fifth, from Williams’ Alex Albon and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

FP2 was topped by Russell with a 10.702, which put him six hundredths faster than Piastri. Piastri split the two Mercedes as he went half a tenth faster than Lewis Hamilton, while teammate Norris put his McLaren fourth, a tenth and a half behind Hamilton, as the top four were covered by around a quarter of a second.

FP3 saw limited running again, Pierre Gasly was fastest with a 20.311 on the intermediates, going nearly a tenth and a half faster than Kevin Magnussen. The session was red-flagged for forty minutes following a huge crash for Logan Sargeant just after ten minutes into the session. Valtteri Bottas was third going over two-tenths faster than Norris, and Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin fifth

Qualifying saw Norris beat Verstappen by three and a half seconds to take McLaren’s first pole at Zandvoort in forty years. Norris set 09.673, stopping the Dutchman taking a fourth home pole in a row, while Piastri was third in the mixed conditions.  But the second McLaren lost time on his final attempt losing nearly half a second to Norris on his last attempt.

Norris converted pole into an early lead from then on he put in a dominant performance despite being bogged down at the start and losing out on the lead. He managed to catch Verstappen and pass on lap seventeen before winning by twenty-two seconds. Piastri using the undercut on his way to third, after Leclerc had to fend off the second McLaren following the first stops, with him finishing two seconds ahead

Championship Standings

What to watch for?

F1 returns following the summer break with nine rounds remaining and nineteen points between the two McLaren drivers. This championship is going to be decided between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, though not yet mathematically, Norris goes into this having a strong run of three wins from four following the collision in Montreal.

Norris won from pole and scored a grand slam at Zandvoort last year. This is a circuit where you need confidence and speed. We know that this won’t be easy, as we know Piastri likes to build himself into a weekend, which is very important because this circuit has the old school things like grass and gravel you need to attack it to get the best lap times, but it will bite back if you make a mistake.

It is a circuit, I believe all the drivers like as it presents so many challenges, as it needs to balance the various factors at play. McLaren could be at risk here as we know anything can happen if accidents happen, its very likely that could result in red flags in qualifying and safety cars in the race.

All the teams need to be wary of this, as overtaking can be difficult but we do see some great action around Zandvoort, its not impossible, and we know teams need to be on it with strategy so they can create opportunities in sector one where most overtakes happen. The section is also key to generate speed and downforce at the start and end of the lap, both for outright lap time in qualifying and overtaking in the race.

This is Max Verstappen’s home race, but I think, given the trend we have seen this season it could be difficult in normal conditions given the flaws we know Red Bull has, to challenge McLaren for victory. He has dominated three of the four races that have been held here, but we know there are problems with the car and internal politics at the team. Verstappen can be there, it will be interesting how Red Bull fights with Ferrari and Mercedes who also have won this season.

Ferrari, despite the challenging season they have had, with at least Charles Leclerc, has started to turn a corner. I think that Lewis Hamilton will be looking for a reset given he was so dejected at the end of the first half of the season, he will be looking to find his mojo again. If they continue this strong run they could even challenge for second in the constructors.

As we said all season the midfield is very tight but I think that with the regulation change next year some teams could be turning off and switching focus to 2026. This group is very tight, involving six teams as they all have had strong results this season, Williams and Sauber actually lead that group.

There is a clear distinction this season between midfield and the backmarkers. In terms of the patterns we have seen, there are thirty-one points between sixth and tenth in the constructors. So it’s very tight and it could change a lot. One of the standout and surprising moments was Nico Hulkenberg’s podium at Silverstone.

2024 vs 2023 Race Data

2024 Lap time comparison

Tyres