Zandvoort keen to avoid May date for Dutch GP's F1 return

Dutch GP

Zandvoort keen to avoid May date for F1 return

F1 will be going back to the Netherlands, but when?

Matthew Scott

Monday 17 June 2019 10:20

Organisers of next year's Dutch Grand Prix have requested that the race does not arrive in Zandvoort over the weekend of May 4/5 – amid claims that it could indeed be the spot that Formula 1 finds on the calendar for its return to the Netherlands.

With Zandvoort expected to replace Barcelona on the calendar, Spain's early-May slot is the logical place for the Dutch race to return after 35 years away.

However, that weekend sees both Remembrance Day and Liberation Day fall in the country next year.

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The events mark commemoration of those who lost their lives in the Second World War and the Netherlands' liberation from German occupation respectively.

With events generally held across the country to mark these days, Zandvoort hopes a different weekend can be found for them in order to avoid a clash.

"We have passed on sensitive days for which we would rather stay away," circuit director Robert van Overdijk told NH News.

"We have a purely advisory role in that, because FOM makes that decision. But I think FOM is sensitive to these kinds of arguments.

"We think that the coming year and the following years are well organized."

Zandvoort is not the only fresh addition to the 2020 calendar, with F1 also set to visit Vietnam for the first time for a street race in Hanoi.