Does Zandvoort have a future in Formula 1? FOM boss answers

Two more weeks and then the Zandvoort Grand Prix will be held! It is already the third edition of the Dutch Grand Prix, since its return in 2021. For now, the circuit has a contract until 2025. Will Formula 1 continue to visit the North Holland dunes after that? FOM boss Stefano Domenicali gives his take on the situation in a conversation with Motorsport.com.

After Max Verstappen's gigantic rise to the pinnacle of motorsport, there was a huge demand for a Dutch Grand Prix from the Netherlands, but also from a commercial point of view. The 'Orange Army' was present in large numbers at European Grands Prix, such as the races in Austria, Hungary and Spa. So what kind of crowds would it be at a Dutch Grand Prix was the question many had.

That there would be a Dutch Grand Prix seemed obvious. But would it be at iconic Zandvoort, or at the well-known MotoGP circuit in Assen? Partly because of Zandvoort's F1 history, the choice fell on the glorious circuit. It became a great success. In 2021 and 2022, the organisers put on a true spectacle that was long talked about by Formula 1's top executives. The party they had seen in Zandvoort was to become the new benchmark.

Nevertheless, it is far from certain that F1 will also travel to the coastal resort after 2025, although FOM boss Stefano Domenicali keeps all possibilities open. "I think we are already going to have conversations this year to think about what can be done for the future. There are many things we can think about and there is pressure to do things better and better and to keep raising the bar," the Italian states.

The circuit is certainly not written off yet: "Zandvoort is an old circuit and it has tradition. But if these places do good things, they can have a future and a place in the modern era of our Formula 1."