Zandvoort farewell may only sink in later - Lammers

Jan Lammers says the real significance of Formula 1’s final Dutch GP at Zandvoort may only become clear years after this weekend’s farewell.

The former F1 driver and long-time sporting director of the Dutch GP expects life to move on quickly once the chequered flag falls on the sixth and provisionally final race since Formula 1 returned in 2021.

"We can be completely under the spell of a World Cup for weeks," Lammers said on the Paddockpraat podcast.

"Then we lose the final or the semi-final and it’s ’okay, move on’."

"Maybe in ten years we will only realise what the Dutch GP has actually meant. Then you think: damn, we did put something very beautiful there."

Lammers refuses to call the farewell permanent, but warns against false hope.

"You should never say never," he said. "After 1985, we didn’t think it would happen again."

"Of course there is a chance, but it is not in the near future. We have to be realistic."

He said Zandvoort’s modernised infrastructure means it could react quickly if Formula 1 ever needed an emergency replacement, but there is no active plan.

"The circuit is there and it meets the requirements. But nothing is planned and there is no anticipation of anything."

"There is first a waiting list of ten or 15 Grands Prix that also want on the calendar."

Dutch GP director Robert van Overdijk says the organisers deliberately chose to leave while demand remained strong.

"When I announced in Abu Dhabi that we would quit after this year, the story was actually already that we want to stop at our peak," he said on De Boordradio.

"That’s not to say we couldn’t have gone on for another year. But if you go on for another three or five years and Max stops at some point, you don’t know what’s happening."

Van Overdijk said Verstappen created enormous Dutch interest, but much of it may not be permanent.

"At some point, the people who are not diehard motorsport enthusiasts think: ok, I’ve seen this now. What’s next?"

"So you know that you are dealing with an expiration date somewhere. We have said: we will stop before reaching that expiry date."