Zandvoort, North Holland · NL
Nestled in the sand dunes along the Dutch North Sea coast, Zandvoort returned to the F1 calendar in 2021. Its banked final corner and compact layout create phenomenal racing, whipped up by the orange army of fans.
Zandvoort is threaded through coastal sand dunes, which makes it narrow, undulating and unusually blind — several corners crest or fall away as you commit to them. Tarzan, the 180-degree bend at the end of the main straight, is the classic overtaking spot. Hugenholtz is banked to as much as 18 degrees, and the final corner is banked more steeply still, letting cars carry speed onto the straight. Scheivlak, fast and downhill through the dunes, is the corner drivers talk about most.
It is one of the best-atmosphere weekends in Europe, in large part because of how people arrive. The town is closed to cars during the Grand Prix, so spectators come by train or bicycle — tens of thousands cycle in along the dunes. The beach is a short walk from the circuit and forms part of the weekend rather than a sideshow. Expect crowds and long waits for trains afterwards.
The circuit was inaugurated in 1948, part of the wave of post-war motorsport enthusiasm across Europe. The Dutch Automobile Racing Club drove the project and brought in Sammy Davis, a Le Mans winner in 1927, to consult on the layout of the original 4.2 km track through the dunes.
After decades on and off the international calendar, the circuit was reworked for a Formula 1 return in 2021. The most distinctive change was the addition of banking, rare on a modern Grand Prix track: Hugenholtz was banked to around 18 degrees and the final corner, the Arie Luyendijkbocht, to around 19, a deliberate attempt to keep cars close enough to race on a circuit that is otherwise very narrow.
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