Former Prime Minister of Holland, Jan Peter Balkenende, has talked up the possibility of the Dutch Grand Prix returning to the Formula 1 calendar in the wake of Max Verstappen’s immense popularity.
F1 has not visited the country since 1985 when the race was held at Zandvoort on a much different layout to the one that exists today, however, the rise of the 19-year-old with Red Bull has caused such a surge in popularity among the Dutch that grandstands at most European races often feature large swathes of orange, as was seen in Austria and will be most apparent at the nearest race to his homeland, the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
Zandvoort, which held a Red Bull show run earlier this year with Verstappen setting an unofficial lap record at the track, has already indicated it could look to redevelop to once again meet F1 safety standards with the Assen circuit that currently hosts MotoGP also mentioned.
“If together we say we want to return to F1, we must collectively put our shoulders to the wheel,” Balkenende told De Telegraaf newspaper.
The former Prime Minister also claims Verstappen has already become a box office draw for F1 and would be the sole reason a future Dutch Grand Prix return.
“He controls all facets of the business, in the car but also outside of it,” he said. “F1 has reached a whole new dimension with Max.”
With Liberty Media looking to boost the core European market for the sport, it will be interesting to see if, firstly either of the likely host venues start to make real efforts towards being capable of holding a race, and secondly, whether Chase Carey and the other F1 bosses would be open to the idea of a comeback