Coronel: "Just postpone Zandvoort for a year"

Today is the day that after years of waiting we would finally see another Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort. Unfortunately the corona crisis threw a spanner in the works and now it looks like we either won't see a race at all this season or a race without an audience.

Weather forecast

Dutch driver and pundit Tom Coronel is fiercely against a race on Dutch soil without an audience. "If you are the director of a thriller on this new circuit, well, these would have been the Verstappen-conditions", says Coronel in conversation with Motorsport.com in view of the uncertainty of the weather forecast.

Coronel would rather see the race at Zandvoort postponed for a year. "No, just really no: don't race there without an audience", says the WTCR driver. "Zandvoort is carried by the public, so postpone it for a year."

"Zandvoort is everything: the hype, the feeling, a GP that sells out within an hour and a half", Coronel continues. "That's Zandvoort for me. The whole festival and Verstappen-event in Zandvoort just has to be with an audience. Then you get that nice atmosphere and the passion splashes off."

Appeal

For Prince Bernhard who owns the circuit, Coronel has a special appeal: "Don't do it! Zandvoort, please. Bernhard and all the clever people who have to calculate it: don't do it without an audience."