The Zandvoort circuit will undergo a series of changes ahead of its return to the world championship as part of the 2020 F1 calendar.
The circuit last held an F1 race in 1985. Its layout has changed significantly since then, but further alterations will be needed to ‘modernise’ it for F1, according to the race promoters.Dutch Grand Prix sporting director and ex-F1 driver Jan Lammers described how the track’s configuration will be altered for next year’s Dutch Grand Prix.
“The start/finish line will be brought forward a little bit towards Tarzan to ensure that the grid is clearly visible from the main grandstand,” said Lammers.
“The exit of Gerlachtbocht will be widened for safety reasons, and the Hugenholtzbocht will be widened on the inside to allow more space and allow higher speeds going towards Scheivlak.
“Then we get to the Hans ErnstBocht, of which the second part will be shortened and widened to improve flow through the corner and reduce its stop-start character and increase speeds.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
“The Arie Luyendijkbocht, formerly known as Bosuit, that will be modified and slightly banked to permit full-throttle through there. This will make it similar to the final part of Brazil, where you can through with open DRS. It won’t be easy, but possible, I think.”
Lammers did not mention whether any changes will be made to the run-off areas. Zandvoort’s are almost entirely gravel, whereas most permanent F1 venues now have asphalt run-offs.
Aside from the circuit layout, other changes will be made to the track including a new paddock and other infrastructure. Lammers said he wouldn’t have thought it would be possible F1 could return to the circuit after its last race 35 years ago.
“If you’d ask me a year ago I would have said its almost impossible, I’m a Zandvoorter, if I imagine that 40 yrs ago I drove a F1 car here for the first time, then I am highly appreciative of what [Prince] Bernard and his partners have done here to get F1 back to the circuit.
“It’s a unique circuit, lying in the dunes and following the natural contours of the dunes. As a driver it is one the ultimate tests, if you take Scheivlak, it’s our own Eau Rouge, if you will. I think the driver who takes pole position will step out of his car full of euphoria, having just experienced the ultimate race experience.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2020 F1 season
- Pictures: Wrecked chassis from Grosjean’s Bahrain fireball crash to go on display
- Bottas vs Rosberg: Hamilton’s Mercedes team mates compared after 78 races each
- F1 revenues fell by $877 million in Covid-struck 2020 season
- Hamilton and Mercedes finally announce new deal for 2021 season
- F1 audience figures “strong” in 2020 despite dip in television viewers
socksolid (@socksolid)
14th May 2019, 11:46
Fingers crossed no chicanes!
Matthijs (@matthijs)
14th May 2019, 11:59
It’s ‘Scheivlak’, not ‘Sheivlak’ and it’s ‘Gerlach’ rather than ‘Gerlacht’.
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
14th May 2019, 13:49
@matthijs you say Scheivlak, I say Sheivlak! Scheivlak-Sheivlak Scheivlak-Sheivlak let’s call the whole thing off…
I don’t know if Dutch is harder to read, to speak or even hear :D!
(just joking, don’t want to be disrespectful)
Matthijs (@matthijs)
14th May 2019, 15:14
@m-bagattini I don’t feel offended! But let’s not talk about Italian ;)
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
14th May 2019, 16:13
@matthijs Absolutely agree! We even have an institute that clarifies what’s “right” in case of controversies, go figure.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
15th May 2019, 8:44
You say ‘Gerlach’, F1 says turn 2.
:(
Larry L
16th July 2019, 21:08
Personally, I would prefer everyone just refers to the turns by numbers. I still have no idea what corners the British talk about for Silverstone and I have raced it many times on video games. hehe The names are just confusing and a bit snobbish if you ask me. Regards from Canada – looking forward to the first Dutch GP/F1 in quite a while.
RickS
29th January 2020, 12:51
Modern drivers and statisticians have trouble in remembering words of more than one syllable, so they have to resort to numbers. If there are more than 10 corners, off come the shoes and socks…! Heaven help them if they try to learn the Nordschleife..!
Corner names are certainly not snobbish… If they need a label, they are ‘traditional’…
..but please, do continue to enjoy your games..
Bonensoep
1st February 2020, 14:28
There won’t be…
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
14th May 2019, 11:59
Surprised they wouldn’t be trying to create some runoff space on the outside of Hugenholtz – any kind of contact there and you’re basically guaranteed a safety car at the moment.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
14th May 2019, 12:53
So you’re saying it’s bad that the circuit won’t be too sanitised?
BasCB (@bascb)
14th May 2019, 13:33
Not sure where one would put that runoff though @mazdachris.
You would have to shorten the corner, since on the outside there is the entrance to the pitlane & road to the pitbuilding/hospitality and right behind that the main straight.
Radoye
14th May 2019, 15:36
If you ask me (and nobody asks me, which is probably a good thing LOL) I would completely bypass Hugenholtz – turn Gerlacht into an uphil sweeping left hander that feeds into the not-so-straight before Scheivlak. This solves the problem of no runoff at Hugenholtz nd creates ample room for the new paddock. It would also make the run from Tarzan to Scheivlak mighty fast.
The lap distance would drop ~300 m which means it would still be ~4 km long. However, it might cause the track to be too fast, which would mean low laptimes / short-ish race.
Marcel
14th May 2019, 12:04
If the last corner will be full throttle with open DRS, than overtaking into the first corner is not going to be a big problem. Maybe even better if the short straight after the Hans Ernst Corner will be DRS as well.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
14th May 2019, 12:57
If it’s banked, and I do mean banked so that the final two corners are both flat (which they’re currently not), that could be a great follow-and-overtake spot, like the old Catalunya final corner before it was butchered
Bonensoep
3rd December 2019, 13:14
It will have a 32 degree banking.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
14th May 2019, 12:13
looks like Bernd Maylander will have his hands full on race day.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
14th May 2019, 12:31
None of these changes are going to do anything to improve the racing at this circuit. It’s gonna be fun for the drivers and for the spectators at the track, but for the TV viewers, oh dear… It might even rival the boredom levels of the Circuit de Catalunya it replaces
Roger
15th May 2019, 6:13
Why is that, care to explain?
DAllein (@)
14th May 2019, 12:55
Yay, new track for processional race!
In a freezing temperatures, away from proper sunny Barcelona…
What a nonsense!
MacLeod (@macleod)
14th May 2019, 13:15
You forget the rain..
Jan Schoonderbeek (@clearbrooke)
14th May 2019, 15:28
It doesn’t always rain here! Sometimes we have fog.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
14th May 2019, 18:02
Well, it’s a definite nod to us herb friendly. Thanks! There are plenty of sunny races with beaches and no herb legally available or even in dictatorships without even alcohol.
Richard (@rick1984)
16th May 2019, 16:39
They could hand out blunts on the podium… Deffo spice up the interviews!!!!
F1oSaurus (@)
14th May 2019, 18:11
@dallein There is an echo in your keyboard …
Palindnilap (@palindnilap)
14th May 2019, 13:17
That sounds very good, I was expecting a lot worse. It really sounds like that track won’t be butchered at all. Banking the last corner is smart, if it is flat-out then the difficulty of overtaking might be in the Hungaroring category or better. It will never be an overtake fest, but I am really looking forward to that one.
terro (@terro)
14th May 2019, 14:02
“I think the driver who takes pole position will step out of his car full of euphoria, having just experienced the ultimate race experience.”
And that pretty much says it all. You take pole, race win is almost guaranteed.
Nunof
14th May 2019, 14:39
Now FIA just needs to find a loophole to make Verstappen champion regardless who gets more points at the end of a season
RP (@slotopen)
14th May 2019, 17:24
Nah, he’s a Future Champion to his fans, which appears to be equivalent to a real champion.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
15th May 2019, 8:46
Double Dutch race? Double points if you are Dutch?
David BR (@david-br)
14th May 2019, 14:55
No real idea what this circuit is like and difficult to tell without a virtual drive round. But can’t they widen the track at a few points to allow more overtaking chances? It’s overall speed sounds promising. Those images, though. Maybe they should double-down on the 1970s retro vibe.
MacLeod (@macleod)
14th May 2019, 15:04
The Straight will be widened and some corners moved and widened. Pit exit is going to change too but that i don’t see here yet.
David BR (@david-br)
14th May 2019, 16:28
OK, thanks. The idea of a fast, flowing circuit like Silverstone and Suzuka sounds great if they can make overtaking possible. Without chicanes.
Stephen Higgins
14th May 2019, 18:38
Well, lets hope that they don’t ‘bocht’ it …
mzso (@mzso)
14th May 2019, 22:02
Already, like half the drivers noted that it won’t be possible to overtake…
Another bore-fest in the making.
They should have went with Assen. At least with that not everyone’s sure it’d suck. :)
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
15th May 2019, 11:24
That sounds like something Jeremy Clarkson might come up with
Matt
15th May 2019, 16:00
They can make as many changes as they want, but if they don’t extend the main straight and re-profile the first corner then it will all be for nothing.
walterswdf2
5th June 2019, 22:57
What they do to the track is not very important. If there’s not much passing (likely) we can just call it Max’s Monaco and be done with it. What MATTERS is how they are going to deal with the spectators. I was there with my son in August last year for the classic races, and we were able to walk all the way around the course, just digging a seat in the dunes as desired. The only area that was excluded was the main grandstand, which is a fine place to watch cars going fast in a straight line. So the first question would seem to be, are they going to allow that for F1? The answer is, probably no — and you probably wouldn’t want them to, anyway. The dunes would quickly fill up and you’d be trying to catch a glimpse of the track over/through a crowd 20 or 30 layers deep. What they probably will do is install grandstands in the dunes and sell assigned seating. That destroys the classic Zandvoort experience but it’s the only workable way, and it could be fine for the spectators as long as they also install big screens in the right places. Now . . . traffic on the way to the track? Don’t get me started.