Max Verstappen fans, Red Bull, Hungaroring, 2018

Verstappen fans will make Dutch GP “immense” – Horner

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In the round-up: Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says Max Verstappen’s popularity will make the Dutch Grand Prix a successful addition to the 2020 F1 calendar.

What they say

I think a Dutch Grand Prix, we saw it in Spain with Alonso when he was at its peak, we see the amount of Dutch fans around the world, it just seems to be growing and growing. I think a Dutch Grand Prix with the popularity of Verstappen is going to be immense. I think that’s good for Formula 1.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

Start, Zandvoort, 1985
Start, Zandvoort, 1985

Derek liked the picture which accompanied our 2020 Dutch Grand Prix story yesterday so much I thought I should run it again, with his reminiscences:

Excuse the indulgence, but so many memories for me from that photo – the eventual winner that day certainly had to do some overtaking, Marc Surer there in a Brabham, Renault supposedly running on half tanks because they were worried about a suspension failure, so artificially fast but destined to retire, Alboreto mired in the pack as his championship challenge began to come to grief, the first ever all-turbo race, and away in the background Stefan Bellof in his final GP start. What could have been…
Derek Edwards

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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9 comments on “Verstappen fans will make Dutch GP “immense” – Horner”

  1. Profile Photo

    DB-C90 (@dbradock)
    15th May 2019, 5:46

    I’m sure it will Christian but I get concerned when venues are built around a single driver.

    Sure it will be great for max fans and they’ll turn up in the thousands, but what happens to it when Max is no longer in a great car, or leaves or unable to race for any of a number of reasons.

    We’ve seen in Spain that attendances are dropping, same in Germany because the drivers they supported are no longer there (or winning) & I suspect that the Dutch Grand Prix will probably suffer a similar fate in years to come.

    1. Matn
      15th May 2019, 9:05

      Odd comment, who’s star driver from the US, Bahrain, China, Japan…and so on?

      Zanvoort is a circuit with a great history, one of the reasons to get it back on the calender, the other reason is immense potential commercial succes. The Dutch fans are present in Belgium and Austria is very large numbers (~20-30K).
      Verstappen has a few good years ahead, no worries for ticket sales… wich was becomming an issue in Spain cause of Alonso leaving F1.

      From a business point of view it’s a logical choice, from a sporting point of view as well.
      Zandvoort will invest in updating the current track to make it more suitable for F1.

    2. Profile Photo

      socksolid (@socksolid)
      15th May 2019, 10:07

      It is likely that verstappen will be in f1 for quite some years. I think max could fill the stands in zandvoort easily for many years to come. And it sounds like zandvoort is not taking a massive gamble here. The changes to the track are relatively small and they are not going to build massive grandstands either but use temporary ones. So they don’t have huge costs they need to earn back. Only risk here that I can imagine is that the f1 cars cause damage to the track surface and make it really bumpy which causes the track to need be resurfaced. I think the track was recently resurfaced so having to do it again this soon could be costly.

    3. Profile Photo

      Robbie (@robbie)
      15th May 2019, 11:54

      @dbradock I think the phenomenon you fear is only natural, and is not a reason to not proceed. Why not make hay while the sun shines? And who knows…perhaps over the coming decade or more, or as may have already happened, Max will have inspired other Dutch drivers who may end up successful in F1 too.

    4. Profile Photo

      Hans (@hanswesterbeek)
      15th May 2019, 15:00

      Having been to Zandvoort in the past, for races like F3 and WTCC (which was way before Verstappen-times), I have seen so much enthusiasm that I am pretty sure that even without a Verstappen-effect a Dutch Grand Prix will be sold out.

  2. Profile Photo

    Ronald (@mosquito)
    15th May 2019, 6:37

    What do you think will happen with the attendance in Silverstone if no British driver is left?
    I think every race that is not paid for by it’s government is dependant on the performance of a team or driver from that country.

    1. Profile Photo

      DB-C90 (@dbradock)
      15th May 2019, 9:31

      That would be where I disagree

      Silverstone I’d expect pretty much the same crowds as fans go there for F1, not just because there’s a Brit driving, same for Melbourne, Japan, Monaco and a host of other races.

      There’s others where there’s not a natural F1 fan base that struggle and will probably continue to do so even if they have a local driver.

      1. Profile Photo

        NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
        15th May 2019, 12:01

        Can you imagine an F1 race without a Brit driver? I hazard a bet British fans would not show up in current numbers then, rather all complain how F1 is not worth watching anymore.

  3. Profile Photo

    Jere (@jerejj)
    15th May 2019, 12:39

    A recovery action plan, LOL.

Comments are closed.