Dutch Grand Prix 2026

Zandvoort

When was the track built?

The track was laid out among the dunes on the Dutch North Sea coast in the years immediately after the Second World War, opening in 1948 on a route that had partly been marked out during the occupation. It served for decades in roughly its original shape, lost its longest section to a shortened layout in the early 1990s, and was then substantially reworked ahead of its modern return, most visibly with banked corners at Turn 3 and the final turn.

When was its first Grand Prix?

Zandvoort hosted a Dutch Grand Prix from 1948, with the race counting towards the world championship from 1952. It became a fixture through the 1960s and 1970s before dropping off the calendar after 1985, a victim of noise restrictions, funding and shifting circuit safety standards. A long absence followed, and the race only returned in 2021 after the rebuild, the delayed product of a wave of Dutch enthusiasm that made the case commercially impossible to ignore.

What’s the circuit like?

Old-school in the best sense: narrow, undulating, and hemmed in by dunes and barriers that leave very little margin. The corners flow into one another with barely a breath between them, so a car that is unsettled at one apex is usually still misbehaving at the next. Teams run high downforce, and the banking at Turn 3 and the final corner lets drivers carry more speed than the geometry suggests while loading the tyres hard. Braking demands are moderate rather than punishing. Overtaking is the problem. There is a DRS run onto the main straight, but the track is tight and track position matters enormously.

Why go?

It is a proper seaside race weekend. The circuit sits within walking distance of the beach and the town, most of the crowd arrives by train or bike, and the whole place takes on a slightly unhinged orange colour scheme for three days. Late August on the North Sea can deliver warm sunshine or a horizontal gale, sometimes within the same session. Amsterdam is half an hour away by rail, which makes it one of the easier European rounds to build a trip around. The noise in the dune bowl is genuinely something.

Where is the best place to watch?

The grandstands around Turn 3 give you the banking from the outside, which is the most visually striking part of the lap. The Arena section on the exit of the Hugenholtzbocht offers a long sweep of track and a sense of the elevation. Seats near Tarzan, the first corner, cover the best of the limited overtaking and the start. Anywhere along the run to the final banked turn is good for cars at full commitment. General admission on the dune banking is atmospheric but sightlines vary, so arrive early.