Changes to be Made to Zandvoort Circuit to Boost Overtaking

Ahead of its Formula One return in 2020, the Zandvoort Circuit officials are rushing to make necessary changes to the track. The purpose of these radical changes is to allow for more opportunities for overtaking.

Around May, Formula One confirmed that the Zandvoort Circuit will return to the F1 calendar next season. However, there have been concerns raised about the possibility of overtaking. This is because, the original track may or may not be wide enough to host a Grand Prix, and if it would simply be a boring and processional race.

The last F1 race at the Zandvoort Circuit was in 1985 and will now return after 35 years. To ensure that it remains on the calendar, the track is doing everything to ensure a good race next season.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, Jan Lammers, the Dutch GP sporting director said, “The Gelachbocht, the open right hand corner, Turn 3 effectively, will get a bigger run-off area.

“Turn 4, the Hugenholtz hairpin up the hill, will have a wider inside, to make the corner more fluid, so it won’t be a stop-start corner.

“The same thing will happen with the S-chicane, or the Hans Ernst Bocht. That will also become more fluid by putting more tarmac on the inside.

“And then the Arie Luyendyk Bocht will be accommodated exactly to his liking, as it will be a little bit more like Indianapolis, because it will be banked.

“It will be banked in such a way that you can go flat out with DRS open, and in that way we hope to encourage more overtaking for the Tarzan corner. It will be 17 degrees, so the corner will have the same character as the last corner in Brazil.”

However, there are also talks that the Dutch GP’s inclusion could result in a couple of other races ending up on the chopping block.