Max Verstappen said he was disappointed by the news his home race will disappear from the Formula 1 calendar after 2026.
However Verstappen said he never expected to have a chance to race at Zandvoort in Formula 1 when his career began.
Formula 1 returned to the Netherlands three years ago for the first time since 1985. However, on Wednesday, the event promoters announced that the Dutch Grand Prix will not continue beyond 2026.
Verstappen said the event’s promoters should be pleased with the success of the race since its return to the calendar.
“Of course, when I look at it, it’s something that I’m sad about, that it’s not going to continue,” Verstappen said. “But on the other hand also, I’m very proud of what they have done.
“When I started in Formula 1 I would have never imagined that we would go back to Zandvoort. And the races that we’ve had there, the event that they put on, I have a lot of respect for that and I’m proud that I played a part in that as well.”
The race has attracted a large and enthusiastic crowd every time F1 has visited. “Seeing all the fans there was and is of course amazing and I’m really looking forward to the final two years,” Verstappen continued.
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“But they can be very proud of what they have achieved. I think the final year, ’26, with a sprint event also, they say they’re going to go out with a bang. So I’m also very excited to see that.”
Lewis Hamilton, who fought a championship battle against Verstappen in 2021 when the championship returned to Zandvoort, also lamented the loss of the event from the calendar.
“I think it’s really sad to be losing Zandvoort,” said the Mercedes driver. “Particularly as, if you look, the crowd is incredible there. There’s such a huge following, obviously mostly for Max, but in general the fans are what make the sport what it is.”
Speaking ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton pointed out some of F1’s events attract far smaller crowds.
“There are several races on the calendar – I’m not going to mention which ones, but you know which ones – which don’t have a lot of people that come, yet financially obviously, they can cover, I guess, whatever the cost is.
“I think the business is doing very, very well and I think we’ve got to make sure we hold on to the heritage races, which Zandvoort, for me, is one of those.”
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Oscar Piastri also urged F1 not to be too hasty to replace too many of the classic venues on the calendar.
“I think we need to be careful as a sport not to get rid of all the tracks that we all grew up racing on and loving,” Piastri said.
“I think if you ask most of the drivers on the grid, their favourite track – maybe apart from Suzuka – is probably guaranteed to be in Europe somewhere. And I think we need to be careful to not get rid of all of these tracks. There’s some that already aren’t on the calendar, that I think we all would love to go back racing on.”
Zandvoort has one of the smallest paddocks of any track F1 visits and teams have even less space available if the grid expands in 2026 to allow Cadillac’s new team in.
“It’s a bit of a logistical challenge, racing in Zandvoort with the layout of the track and the kind of split paddock and stuff like that,” said Piastri. “So it is demanding and obviously we’re getting another team which is going to add to that demand.
“But I think we need to be wary as a sport that a lot of the tracks that will disappear from the calendar are probably the ones that we all love a lot. So I think we just need to be a bit careful with which ones we get rid of.”
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