Thesummerbreakmightbeoverbutwe’reheadingstraightbacktothebeachtokickoffthe2025runin–withMax’shomerace,TheDutchGrandPrix.Here’swhatwecanexpectdowninthedunes…
The Latest From Zandvoort
01Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside
Bracing weather, gravity defying banking, block-rockin' beats and tens of thousands of extremely boisterous orange army members, Zandvoort is heck of a place to launch the second ‘half’ of the 2025 season – and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Short, sharp and sandy, Zandvoort was a calendar fixture from the 1950s, but despite providing some epic racing (think Gilles Villeneuve racing on three wheels in 1979 or Niki Lauda’s final win in 1985) , it slipped off the schedule in 1985. Max’s massive impact on the sport naturally sparked plans for a revival and in 2021 we headed back to the beach for what has become one of the sport’s most popular races.
Hear The Dutch Roar© Vladimir Rys
Part F1 classic and part EDM festival, drivers love Zandvoort for its old-school vibe. Narrow, with short run-offs and close barriers, it rewards commitments and punishes over-ambition. The spectacular banking in Turn 3 and Turn 14 adds to the whole golden age feeling of the seaside circuit.
For fans, the Dutch Grand Prix is just a riot. The festival feeling kicks off on Friday with packed grandstands from FP1 onwards and builds towards Sunday’s race when the vibe on the grid is without doubt one of the most raucous of the whole season – and we’re including Mexico City and São Paulo in that calculation.
The Beauty Of The 2022 Dutch Grand Prix© Getty Images
The good vibes are helped by the fact that Max has pretty much made this race his own since its return. A spectacular, largely unchallenged win in 2021 was followed by a strategic masterclass in 2022 as he beat both Mercedes drivers, and in 2023 he roared through the rain to complete a magnificent hat-trick. Max missed out on the win last year but still went home with a trophy for P2.
For Yuki, it’s been a much tougher venue. In his four Zandvoort outings with AlphaTauri/VCARB, Yuki has finished just twice. In 2021 a power unit issue forced him out after 48 laps and the following year he exited with a differential problem.
02Oracle Strategy Guide: Zandvoort
03Challenges and Key Factors
With high G-forces all around the track (5G under braking into Turn 1 and 5 lateral Gs through Turn 7), and a grippy surface with medium levels of abrasion, Zandvoort has seen Pirelli gravitate to the harder end of its spectrum since the race’s 2021 return. However, after three C1-C3 races here, this year’s event will see teams run with C2-C4 compound tyres.
The shift to softer rubber has been prompted by almost three quarters of the field only making one stop in 2024, with Lando Norris winning with a switch from new mediums to new hard tyres on lap 28. Max took P2 with the same tyre choice, though he made his stop a lap earlier.
The move to C2-C4 is aimed at pushing teams towards a two-stop race, thus creating strategic variation and compound offsets, but whether that happens remains to be seen.
Zandvoort’s twisty layout requires relatively high levels of downforce – with only Monaco and the Hungaroring requiring more wing. Neither of those venues particularly favoured the RB21 and finding a sweet-spot with set-up could again be tricky in the Netherlands.
Zandvoort has a narrow pit lane and since 2021 it's been one of just three tracks (along with Monaco and Singapore) to have a 60km/h speed limit. However, for 2025 the limit has been raised to the 80km/h used at every other circuit. The change should reduce pit stop time loss and could again prompt some strategic variation.
For years F1 shunned banking (only Indianapolis provided it between 2000 and 2006) but in recent years it’s come back into favour – and Zandvoort is its biggest champion. Turn 3, Hugenholtzbocht, and Turn 14, Arie Luyendykbocht, feature 18 degrees of banking at the steepest point (twice the angle seen at Indianapolis), while Turn 1, Tarzanbocht, is also slightly banked. It means that different lines are possible and in the past a surprise low line around Turn 3 has been successful in making a move.
Zandvoort is narrow and flowing, and that means overtaking points are few and far between. Qualifying is therefore of paramount importance (the race has been won from pole every year since 2021).
Zandvoort is on the beach, next to the North Sea and that means it’s usually blustery, chilly and occasionally pretty damp. 2023 was wet and wild, FP1 and FP3 were disrupted by showers last year, and this year the forecast is also for strong winds and showers on Saturday and Sunday. That two-stop, slick tyre race might be wishful thinking.
04Zandvoort: Track Layout & Key Features
At just 4.259 kilometres it’s one the shortest tracks on the calendar but its 14 corners provide a pretty tough test for drivers. The 164m run from pole to the first braking zone means there’s usually plenty of chaos at the start and smart navigation of Turn 1 can set up a good race. Turn 1, which comes at the end of the second DRS zone, is also the track's major overtaking opportunity.
From there, the banked swoop through Turn 3 is the next challenge, followed by the high speed right-left changes of direction from Turns 4-6 and the 220km/h, right-hand sweep of Scheivlak (Turn 7).
After that, Sector 2 features a pair of quick right handers before the long 120km/h left hander of Turn 10 gives way to the first DRS zone. The ends in the heavy braking zone for the tricky left-right Turn 11 and 12 complex before feeding through to Turn 13, the fearsome banking of Arie Luyendykbocht, the second DRS zone and the start/finish straight.
