Max Verstappen pledges he will still race at popular track despite F1 snub

Max Verstappen has vowed to continue driving at Zandvoort, even when the Dutch Grand Prix leaves after this season.

The four-time F1 champion has enjoyed a handful of years with an official home race after the event was brought back to the calendar for the 2021 season, but 2026 will be the last running of the event for the foreseeable future.

The Dutchman told the media that he'll enjoy what might be his last chance to race in front of a home crowd in F1, but pointed out that the track 'is not going to disappear', and insisted he'll still get out on the famous banked Hugenholtzbocht corner.

Verstappen won the first three races back at Zandvoort from 2021 through 2023, but the last two editions have been won by McLarens – and Red Bull's current lack of pace means it looks unlikely that he'll end the track's tenure in F1 in style.

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Verstappen: Dutch Grand Prix was an example to other races

The 28-year-old is regularly being priced as the sixth favourite to take the race victory (just behind George Russell, and ahead of Oscar Piastri), with many doubting that he'll reach the top step of the podium at any point this season.

Speaking ahead of the post-summer break return to racing about Zandvoort's departure, he said: “Of course, we’ve known this now for a while. It’s my home Grand Prix, so for sure I’m going to enjoy it a lot. I hope, driving-wise! Hopefully a bit more than I did [in Hungary], at least.

“But, yeah, it’s going to be great to see the fans. Okay, we won’t have a Formula 1 Grand Prix there, but there are a lot of other series that still race there, and if you want to have a track day, the track is not going to disappear. So, for me, I’ll still have my fun driving around there, just not in Formula 1, but that’s okay.

“I mean, I just want to enjoy it with the fans. It’s incredibly impressive what they have done to bring it back, and I think, at the time when they hosted the first one, it was a great example for a lot of other Grands Prix as well of how to host and entertain.

"So, yeah, it’s a shame, but on the other hand, the track’s still there and I’m sure I will do more laps around there. So, it is what it is.”

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