“It’s successful, it’s packed, and it’s arguably the biggest Orange celebration there is.” Tom Coronel, like many other Dutch people, doesn’t understand why the Dutch GP has to end. On Wednesday morning, the organization announced that Formula 1 will no longer come to Zandvoort after 2026. Coronel understands this decision, but at the same time, he is convinced that a race on home soil should always be feasible.
“I was quite shocked,” Tom Coronel responded on Wednesday. “I really need to think about this – it’s of course a question of what the consequences will be for Zandvoort and the surrounding organization. I find it really strange; it just doesn’t add up. It’s successful, it’s packed, and it’s arguably the biggest Orange celebration there is.”
Dutch GP director Robert van Overdijk confirmed that there were multiple options on the table for the event. “We could rotate with other circuits, there were also possibilities to continue annually,” he said. “We made a lot of considerations and this is the outcome.” After the 2026 edition, there will be a definitive end to the Dutch party. “Of course, it’s about money again, but I still find it peculiar,” said Coronel, who emphasized that the event was privately financed. “I thought everything was settled. It’s hugely successful, but financially it’s less lucrative. That’s what happens when the state doesn’t cooperate.
‘We’re all going a bit overboard’
“It remains incredibly impressive that the organization has managed to pull it off in recent years,” Coronel continued. “Even before the first edition, I was one of the few who had faith in a GP at Zandvoort. ‘If you can organize a race in Hungary, you should be able to do it in the Netherlands,’ I thought at the time. And when you see how well everything has been arranged in recent years, the organization has effectively silenced everyone. Everything was just right, except that the Dutch state could not be involved in the project. In the end, you can’t do anything in the Netherlands – we’re all going a bit overboard.”
Previously, there was a principle agreement with Formula 1 to rotate with three other races on the calendar, namely Spa-Francorchamps, Barcelona, and Imola. However, upon closer inspection, the conditions were not attractive enough. “Actually, no one wants to rotate; you want to be able to tie a Grand Prix to your own country,” Coronel explained. “Of course, the Max Verstappen factor is very important for a Dutch GP. That’s why I think rotating with other races would have been a good solution. After all, Formula 1 remains very popular.”
“I have a lot of respect for the people who have made the Dutch GP so grand and successful in recent years,” concluded Tom Coronel. “But I also understand that if it’s not profitable, you can’t keep sharing the losses. What I don’t understand is why there can’t be money from anywhere else. Grands Prix can be organized all over the world; why not at Zandvoort?”
