F1 begins talks to hold Dutch street race

Motorsport.com can reveal that F1’s commercial boss Sean Bratches recently visited Holland for talks with local representatives to work out what needs to be done to make the event a reality.

It is understood that Holland is high on the list of countries that F1’s new owners want added to the grand prix schedule, with the country’s booming interest thanks to Max Verstappen meaning it would be hugely popular.

While it had previously been thought that Holland’s best hopes of winning an F1 race would be for it to take place at permanent track Zandvoort, which last hosted a GP in 1985, sources have revealed that Bratches is actually looking at bolder plans.

With F1’s new vision to make grands prix festival events, Bratches is targetting a street race in one of Holland’s major cities – most likely either Amsterdam or Rotterdam.

All options are currently being considered, with F1 well aware that it will have to balance out the attraction of Amsterdam being a more well-known destination city against the likely more difficult logistical problems that could come from hosting an event there.

Rotterdam has regularly held F1 street demos in the past (pictured above), so the city does at least have some experience of the complications that can come from hosting an event there.

It is not clear what timeframe Bratches is looking at to make a Dutch GP city race get on the calendar, but his recent visit highlights that he is eager to get the ball rolling.

Verstappen’s Red Bull boss Christian Horner believed that a Dutch Grand Prix in one of the big cities would be phenomenally successful.

“Street races are always fun – they always have big crowds and big atmospheres, Horner told Motorport.com.

“Obviously the amount of support there is behind Max in Holland at the moment means it would bring the country to a stop, so you can only imagine it being something huge.

“So as long as the venue and the track layout work, then why not?”