Max Verstappen can’t wait for a “special” first Dutch Grand Prix in Formula 1 this weekend.
The Red Bull driver is largely the reason why the Netherlands has returned to the calendar for the first time since 1985, with his huge popularity making a race there a must-have.
And he heads to Zandvoort having benefitted from the washout last Sunday at Spa to bring a recent run of tough weekends to an end.
“We had two races where we didn’t really score points, so we needed a decent result,” he said.
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“Of course, again, it’s not how you want to have the result, but still I think the whole weekend we were very competitive, and that’s very important on a track like this with long straights.
“And now we go to Zandvoort, which is new for everyone, so there will be a bit of a question mark over how everyone will be performing and maybe some surprises as well, you never know, but I’m looking forward to it.”
Due to Covid-19, capacity has been limited to around 70,000 fans on all three days at the coastal circuit, but that is still more than enough to turn the town orange.
“I’m really looking forward to the race at Zandvoort,” said Verstappen.
“It will be special to have a race in the Netherlands in front of my home crowd but also as a driver it’s a good challenge to go to a new circuit and find the limit in an F1 car.
“It was amazing to see so many fans supporting us in Austria and Belgium and I hope we can put on a good show for everyone in the grandstands this weekend.”
Verstappen is the only F1 driver to have driven on the renovated Zandvoort circuit, although plenty more have raced on the previous version in lower formulas.
But the one fear some have on the narrow, sweeping layout is that race day could be quite processional.
“It might be a little hard to overtake on but for single-lap performance, I think it’s going to be rewarding,” Verstappen said.
“The qualifying laps will be very quick there so any mistakes will be really costly.
“After the race was cancelled last year this year will be even more special and of course it would be amazing to win on another home circuit in front of the Orange Army.”