DPPI
Formula 1’s return to Zandvoort will have to wait one more year after organisers of the 2020 Dutch Grand Prix confirmed that it had been cancelled.
The race had been postponed from its original May 3 race date, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Discussions then took place over the possibility of a closed-doors event, but directors opted not to hold the race without fans.
The Dutch Grand Prix is the fourth round of the original 2020 World Championship to be cancelled, after the Australian, Monaco and French Grands Prix.
“We were completely ready for this first race and we still are,” Dutch Grand Prix sports director Jan Lammers said of the announcement.
A cost cap of $145m will be introduced in F1 next year after the measure was approved, along with other restrictions to reduce spending and level the playing field
“We and Formula 1 have investigated the potential to hold a rescheduled race this year without spectators, but we would like to celebrate this moment, the return of Formula 1 in Zandvoort, together with our racing fans in the Netherlands.
“We ask everyone to be patient. I had to look forward to it for 35 years, so I can wait another year.”
Since the last F1 race at the venue, the circuit has undergone extensive work to modernise the layout, with the inclusion of steeper banked corners to cope with the higher cornering speeds of the current day F1 cars.
Turns Four and 14 will feature around 19 degree banked turns, a significant step above the last banked corners on the F1 calendar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which totalled nine degrees.
Ticket holders for this season’s Dutch Grand Prix will have the option to roll them over for next year’s event, or gain a full refund for the 2020 race.
