Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort: Where the throttle never stops

Article posted by Coliseum, September 8^th, 2026

Image: Coliseum GSVA

Jeroen van Iersel is the MarCom Manager of Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands and his role entails brand management, concept development and B2B and B2C marketing campaigns.

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In an exchange with ‘Coliseum’, Jeroen van Iersel, MarCom Manager, MASCOT Circuit Zandvoort, Netherlands, gives an insight into the timeless elegance of Circuit Zandvoort and how they used Formula 1 (the highest level of international motor racing for open-wheel, single-seater formula cars) as a turning point in the evolution of the race track. He narrates the story behind what they did.

Jeroen van Iersel started the conversation by stating that “a lot of the race tracks are old race tracks and they only focus on racing, not hospitality. It was the same with Circuit Zandvoort and was not a sustainable model and we had to transform it from a traditional race track to a multifunctional facility” and in doing so they used F1 as a leverage.

Circuit Zandvoort

The 105,000-capacity Circuit Zandvoort, known for sponsorship reasons as the Mascot Circuit Zandvoort, previously known as the Circuit Park Zandvoort until 2017, is a 4.259 km (2.646 mi) motorsport race track located in the dunes North of Zandvoort, Netherlands.

Circuit Zandvoort is not just about cars going fast but it is a track where engineering, landscape and history meet. The iconic track create space for history and create experiences that leave a lasting impact and stories that continue long after the day’s done.

It is not just a bucket-list travel for the car enthusiasts but also sharpens one’s eye for driving and deepens the appreciation for motorsport. Its twists and drops through natural coastal sand dunes make for huge adrenaline rush.

Informing that the Circuit Zandvoort has officially completed its run and is leaving the Formula 1 calendar van Iersel stated, “We were hosting Formula 1 for the past five years and the Formula 1 management is really strict about what you can do with their heritage.”

The Formula 1 made its official return to Circuit Zandvoort in September 2021 and has again made its exit after the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix held in August.

Mentioning that the Formula 1 is the only large event they had throughout the year he added, “The other race classes – the DTM and the GT World Challenges – it only hosts five to 10,000 people a day. So, that’s not a sustainable model. The big goal was to maintain our reputation as a history making circuit.”

Hard Times

He underscored that to keep in place a sustainable economic model only having the cars on track was not enough. Circuit Zandvoort has an almost 80-years-old history (opening in 1948) and earlier the track had Formula 1 from 1952 until 1986. But after the Formula 1 made its exit in 1986 hard times befell the track.

Aging Infrastructure

“We went almost bankrupt in the beginning of the 2000s. In 2017, five private owners bought the Circuit only for the love of racing and heritage and keeping Circuit Zandvoort like a Dutch sports heritage track and keep it alive. But the owners also faced challenges like seasonal revenue concentration and an aging infrastructure.”

Environmental Constraints

The Circuit Zandvoort sits in the middle of Nature in picturesque Netherlands and there is growing societal and political scrutiny involving all the environmental constraints. It has fast and challenging curves formed by the natural dunes.

Commenting on the above van Iersel stated, “We had 50 lawsuits in the past eight years pertaining to Nature. I think we are one of the strictest permitted Formula 1 in the world. We won all the lawsuits because we were really strict on the permits we obtained.”

Formula 1 Magnet

The Formula 1 returned to Circuit Zandvoort in 2021 and the big events were held. He maintained that the Formula 1 is like a “magnet for the visitors, magnet for the businesses, magnet for the sponsors and it provided the opportunity not only to modernize our venue but also modernize the business model behind it. We saw Formula 1 not as an objective but as an accelerator for our business case, for our long-term sustainability plan.”

Platform Mindset

In the past the Circuit Zandvoort organized a lot of events itself but that also meant a big risk in turnover, in cost and in making margin.

“To overcome the risks we went from an event mindset to a platform mindset. Barring Formula1 we also said we stop hosting all the other events ourselves and rent out the track to the organizers so that we have limited risk and see ourselves as a platform. So, we went from race we can peaks, limited infrastructure only for sports not for business, to a 365-day exploitation model.”

Circuit Zandvoort hosts other sports events like biking, running and spartan races.

Multifunctional Destination

Counting on the benefits of Formula 1, he stated, “We took the momentum of Formula 1 to change our strategy and this year we have hosted the last F1 in Zandvoort because our contract ended after six years. In the world of Formula 1 all the stakes are really high but there is a lot of competition at the moment between the different tracks, all the amount that is being paid to host the Formula 1 race getting higher and higher and higher. We took steps to make the Circuit sustainable for a longer period of time which was to invest within the first years and within the peak feasibility. So, we went for a multifunctional destination with our year-round commercial calendar. Well, we have more business layers than ever. It’s all about adding hospitality, adding partnerships and be open every day. Your venue is closed you will lose money.”

Lesson Learned

van Iersel and his team faced the challenge of building on the heritage of the Circuit because only building the brand of the Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix was not enough.

He explained, “The Dutch Grand Prix is one event we have once a year but it’s not the heritage of the Circuit Zandvoort. It plays a big role but for our staff, our commercial team and the other Directors it had to be about the track and not only about the event. I think that’s the most important lesson we learnt – the Dutch Grand Prix is only an accelerator and it’s not the business we are doing. The business we are doing is sustaining the heritage of the Circuit for a longer period of time and being flexible on how the world works and how the brands work and how to cope with that. So, we tried to build a future-proof venue that happens to hold a mega event. I think that’s the biggest lesson we have learnt.”

The positive outcome from the above is that today Circuit Zandvoort has a broader revenue base and a stronger year-round utilization potential and they used F1 as a leverage to attain the same.

Wrap-up

Main Lessons

Jeroen van Iersel concluded by talking about the main lessons learnt – “The mega events are leverage moments, the momentum is always temporary but the structural change one does is permanent. So, if you are going to redesign your venue – not only redesign your venue but also redesign the model behind it because if you don’t do that you will have a really beautiful building but five years later the building will be outdated and will get older and older and you won’t keep up.”

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