The four-time world champion is heading into what will be F1’s last visit to Circuit Zandvoort on 23 August, and for once his own words carry the weight of the story rather than the timing sheets.
“I just think it is wonderful that it happened, that I was obviously able to be a part of it and that we were ultimately able to win a few there. No one can take that away from us anymore!”
Verstappen made the remark in Viaplay’s documentary Dutch GP: Tegen Alle Verwachtingen In, first reported by RacingNews365. He has good reason to speak about victories in the plural. Since the race returned to the calendar in 2021, Verstappen has won three of the five Dutch Grands Prix and stood on the podium at every edition.
After 11 rounds of the 2026 campaign, Verstappen is sixth in the drivers’ championship on 109 points, without a single race win, and 110 points adrift of leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
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First sprint weekend in Dutch GP history
For the first time on Dutch soil, this weekend runs in a sprint format. A single practice session on Friday is followed by sprint qualifying, then the sprint race on Saturday morning, main qualifying that afternoon, and the 72-lap grand prix on Sunday.
That compressed schedule leaves little room to build into the weekend, but it opens the door to the kind of one-off result Verstappen has not produced all year. Zandvoort is sold out for all three days, with roughly 105,000 fans on site daily.
‘The track is not going to disappear’
Away from the emotional talk of victories, Verstappen’s tone was noticeably level. In comments reported by GPblog, he was blunt about how final the departure really is for him.
“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.”
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“It’s my home Grand Prix, so for sure I’m going to enjoy it a lot.”
“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.”
The Dutch Grand Prix returned in 2021 after a 36-year absence, timed almost perfectly with Verstappen’s first title fight, and it swept through five editions with him at the centre of it.
“I also understand the reasons behind it, and ultimately… We have experienced some beautiful years there; nobody ever expected this,” he said in the documentary.
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Round 12 of 22 on the 2026 calendar starts at 3pm local time on Sunday, and after the chequered flag F1 leaves the Dutch coast with no return date fixed.
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