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Post by René on Sept 1, 2021 18:07:25 GMT
Finally it’s time, the return to Zandvoort! A classic race track which had been on the F1 calendar since the early 1950’s until that last race in 1985, won by Niki Lauda. Lauda won the race three times as did Jackie Stewart but the record is in the hands of Jim Clark who won the Dutch Grand Prix four times. Back to modern times, the track is still in the same location and some parts are actually quite identical to the old circuit. The most famous corner, the Tarzanbocht, has only been made a little bit wider for better overtaking and more run off for obvious safety reasons but that’s about it. I think the image of cars approaching Tarzan with the old grandstand in the background could be a familiar sight for most of us. But the track has also seen a lot of changes over the years. In the late 1980’s a big chunk was cut off and sold for housing projects and campsites and the track was shortened from the original 4252 meters to a mere 2526 meters. In the late 90’s revisions started to bring the track back to it’s original length, albeit with a partly different layout. The first part from start/finish up to Scheivlak was saved and therefore almost unchanged but the second part of the lap is completely new. And like Spa Francorchamps, the new part has a good flow with some spectacular corners.
Old track - New track
The last revisions have been finalized in 2019 and these transformed Zandvoort into a truly unique race track with turn 3 and turn 13 changed into banked curves. Only the Indianapolis road course has something similar but the banking in Zandvoort is much steeper. It reminds me of my Polistil slot race track I had in the 70’s!
The last corner has been renamed in honour of another Dutch racing legend and is now called the Arie Luyendykbocht. Very fittting of course to name the banking after the twice Indy 500 winner, Daytona 24h winner and Sebring 12h winner. Arie, Jos and Max.As for not being there myself, on the one hand it would have been nice but on the other hand I am not sure if I would feel at ease between the orange Max mania mass. Not really my cup of tea to be honest so I’d rather watch it on the tele this time.  |
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Post by charleselan on Sept 2, 2021 12:28:56 GMT
Should be very interesting as the track looks good and it is also good to be back at Zandvoort after so may years. I actually watched the highlights of the last Grand prix held there in 1985 last night, too brief and disjointed but great to see those fantastic cars of that period. I had forgotten that it was yet another race of 1985 which should have been a win for Keke, well in the lead before the engine expired, he really was in fabulous form in '85. Niki of course won his very last GP and held off a charging and desperate Prost who even tried to overtake on the grass at one stage.
I can well understand the desire to keep away from the "orange army" René, the same overzealous support for a home hero ruined several British GP's for me, first with Hunt and then Mansell. Max had better win and one can trust that SLH will not try anything on like he did at Silverstone as that would not be a wise move.
The news from last night of course is that Kimi is finally finishing his F1 career at the end of the year, probably went on one year too many but he will be sorely missed, and his great years were indeed memorable and as some have mentioned he should have been a multiple World Champion. The one thing that stands out about his career is the amount of fastest laps he has accrued over the years, that is impressive.
Who goes where is in overdrive now, especially as Tonto has said that the decision of who will be in the second MB next year has been decided but it will not be announced yet. What a drama queen the guy is, all because he wanted to sew up a place for the guy leaving the team. Talk also about Alexander Albon replacing George at Williams next year which would be a sound choice as he did not get fair crack with Fizzy Drinks; brought on too quickly and with no back up plan other than DTM.
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Post by René on Sept 3, 2021 9:21:53 GMT
Wow, super excited. Only 10min before FP1! The track looks amazing. Very narrow and twisty but still very fast. This is gonna be great. Goosebumps!  |
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Post by charleselan on Sept 3, 2021 18:04:41 GMT
Great to have Zandvoort back and a real circuit but now quite short in length considering the speed these truck are going. Three red flag stoppages and the first which took care of the majority of FP1 all because uncertainty of the battery status on Sebastian's car. What the blazes is going on these days, people pay to watch these events but no offer to extend the session so they get their monies worth, flaming rip off but no doubt some smart ar*e will say that they have schedule to keep to. Not only that but all the drivers needed track time at a "new" venue. At one time the damaged or broken vehicle would be pulled to a safe place and the driver would sit trackside watching the rest of the session, now they get driven back to the pits while everyone waits. One good thing, Ferrari like tracks that are not power dependent, Charles & Carlos were flying  . Also Esteban Ocon was going exceedingly well in the Alpine-Renault, excellent. |
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Post by chrisb on Sept 3, 2021 18:08:55 GMT
Oh yeah I loved the old Zandvoort and miss it’s complexity but I also now like the new Zandvoort and am looking forward to a proper race, I write this after a remarkable time set by some French guy and wouldn’t it just be both ironic and brilliant if Ferrari won this race
John I watched that too and wasn’t it great Keke remains one of the quickest drivers I’ve ever seen and also won in places he had no write to do so
kimi was just so fast when he first started out my word in the McLaren he was spectacular
Rene more splendid pictures for the ever easily pleased
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Post by René on Sept 3, 2021 20:27:46 GMT
Oh yes, Forza Ferrari! I said so that Zandvoort could suit the Ferraris. The SF21 is a very good car, I dare say often on par with the Bull and the Merc but it lacks power. Not an issue at Zandvoort though. And Ferrari has one more power unit upgrade coming up. I agree JC that the lack of flexibility regarding the timetable is annoying to say the least. They should have stopped the clock when it became clear the Aston had electric issues. I mean, packed grandstands and beautiful weather. Give the fans a show. But great to be back in Zandvoort. I love the track and obviously so do the drivers. Also loved Lewis’s orange outfit when he arrived at the track. I thought that was cool.   |
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Post by Carl on Sept 3, 2021 23:50:06 GMT
Hamilton looks like a previously unknown teletubbie or an orange Slender Man controlled by the ominous growth on his head. He acknowledges with a smile the attention he's getting, which was the whole idea, but any expression beyond utter boredom means he could never be a fashion model. 
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Post by René on Sept 4, 2021 9:13:47 GMT
Hamilton looks like a previously unknown teletubbie Ha ha, yes he does. Just imagine six of him in different colors!
But I actually liked the fact that he entered the lion's den dressed in orange, I thought that was cool.
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Post by René on Sept 4, 2021 9:23:36 GMT
This is a nice comparison between the old and the new layout. The first part is almost identical with the exception of the banking in the Hugenholtzbocht (turn 3). It's only after Scheivlak that Max turns sharp right and Patrick continues straight on.
Most important is that they managed to keep the charachter of the 'old school' track in tact, as was done successfully with Spa in the early 80s. Not calling Hermann Tilke was a wise decision... 
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Post by mikael on Sept 4, 2021 9:40:32 GMT
It's really a great track!
I saw a little program about the design and construction of the track, with the film centering around the designer, Jarno Zaffelli(*). I really like his attitude and his approach to the task, which was to build, as step 1, not a safe racing circuit but an exciting racing circuit, and then to "patch up" on the safety as step 2 ("... then we need to look also at the safety, but the FIA will help us with that" 👍). It seems that this really was the way to go, in order not to end up with yet another "Hermann Tilke standard circuit".
It found it interesting also that the 15 degrees banked corner actually is beyond what is allowed by the FIA. FIA allows only up to 10 degrees banking; but Zandvoort got a special permission to go on with their 15 degrees.
(*) Another (like Jarno Trulli) Italian with a Finnish first name, apparently :-)
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Post by charleselan on Sept 4, 2021 11:51:11 GMT
It's really a great track!
I saw a little program about the design and construction of the track, with the film centering around the designer, Jarno Zaffelli(*). I really like his attitude and his approach to the task, which was to build, as step 1, not a safe racing circuit but an exciting racing circuit, and then to "patch up" on the safety as step 2 ("... then we need to look also at the safety, but the FIA will help us with that" 👍). It seems that this really was the way to go, in order not to end up with yet another "Hermann Tilke standard circuit".
It found it interesting also that the 15 degrees banked corner actually is beyond what is allowed by the FIA. FIA allows only up to 10 degrees banking; but Zandvoort got a special permission to go on with their 15 degrees.
(*) Another (like Jarno Trulli) Italian with a Finnish first name, apparently :-)
That appears to me to be another parent who was a big fan of Jarno Saarinen. In many ways Saarinen was the Gilles Villeneuve of motorcycle road racing in the early 1970's whose life also ended tragically. Also they had a very similar early career with both making their name by racing on ice and snow.  |
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Post by René on Sept 4, 2021 17:27:50 GMT
Fantastic qualifying and a well deserved pole for Max but Lewis came very, very close!
Strong result again for Pierre and what about Antonio in 7th! Amazing.
Hopefully a good race for Ferrari tomorrow. All is still possible.
But what a track and what an atmosphere. Great stuff.
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Post by Carl on Sept 5, 2021 3:27:12 GMT
Fantastic qualifying and a well deserved pole for Max but Lewis came very, very close! Strong result again for Pierre and what about Antonio in 7th! Amazing. Hopefully a good race for Ferrari tomorrow. All is still possible. But what a track and what an atmosphere. Great stuff. It's wonderful to have Formula One return to Zandvoort, a great road course now beautifully redesigned. I've always held Zandvoort in high regard as one of the best road courses and also because of its origin as a defensive coastal perimeter road, or so the German commander was told. I understand there are other origin stories, but I will always treasure the idea of fooling the Wehrmacht with a race track proposed as coastal defense. All that's missing this weekend is René and his motley crew of global provocateurs. |
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Post by mikael on Sept 5, 2021 10:29:15 GMT
I have no doubt that all the F1 drivers have been vaccinated against Covid19; so I was somewhat "perturbed" when reading that Raikkonen had tested positive for it nonetheless.
René: with so densely packed spectator areas, and yet with the virus still abounding, it seems a wise decision not to go there at this time 👍
Zandvoort on Saturday 4 September 2021 (photo from grandprix.com)
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Post by René on Sept 5, 2021 11:58:50 GMT
I have no doubt that all the F1 drivers have been vaccinated against Covid19; so I was somewhat "perturbed" when reading that Raikkonen had tested positive for it nonetheless.
René: with so densely packed spectator areas, and yet with the virus still abounding, it seems a wise decision not to go there at this time 👍
Mikael, you do have a point and besides the party mood there is a lot of discussion and also dissatisfaction about this event. Most experts on health issues say it's still a big risk with so many people even if they are all vaccinated or have a recent negative test (mandatory to enter the circuit). Being vaccinated protects you from serious illness by Covid but not from getting infected. That is what happened to Kimi. He is not ill but he is infected and thus can infect others.
Other point of discussion is the fact that this event is allowed and other events like music festivals or theatre is not allowed yet. There is understandably a lot of frustration about that. But that is more a political discussion.
The event itself is wonderful though and television coverage has already started an hour ago. It's one big party, the king and queen visited Max in the pit box and all the celebs and former drivers are there to support him. There is a real sense of a historic event taking place in our country.
We can only hope there will be no negative consequenses regarding Covid after this weekend.
Now let's enjoy the race guys on this magnificent race track.
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Arie, Jos and Max.
. Also Esteban Ocon was going exceedingly well in the Alpine-Renault, excellent. 
