The municipality of Zandvoort and event organization Zandvoort Beyond will continue with the preparations for the Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix, which will be held in the seaside resort on the first weekend of September. Zandvoort expects 3 visitors a day on 4, 5 and 105.000 September, but the cabinet can decide on 13 August to come up with new, strict corona rules for events in September. “Nobody knows what it will be. We are waiting and meanwhile we are moving forward at full speed," said a spokesperson for the municipality.
On the weekend of the car races, the Dutch Railways will run twelve trains an hour to and from Zandvoort. This means that a train arrives or departs every five minutes, so that 10.000 passengers can be transported per hour. Usually two to six trains per hour arrive in Zandvoort. Rail manager ProRail has built extra platform space for this crowd in Zandvoort, while the NS has been planning for more than a year and will deploy a lot of extra people. “It is a huge operation,” said an NS spokeswoman.
The NS does not want to anticipate a new cabinet decision on the corona measures on August 13, which could mean a limitation of the number of visitors to F1. “We always have good contact with the municipality and the Dutch Grand Prix organisation. The cabinet and the organization must first make a decision before we adjust our planning.” The Dutch Grand Prix organization emphasizes so far that the race is a sporting event and not a multi-day music festival and that the same rules do not apply.
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Zandvoort and Bloemendaal aan Zee are not or hardly accessible by car on 2, 3, 4 and 5 September, except for people who have a pass. Even beachgoers who are not going to watch the race can only come by train, bus, bicycle or on foot. Railway crossings in Zandvoort are closed because so many trains run per hour. Beach huts are accessible, but a number of beach exits are closed. Entrepreneurs are not allowed to offer alternative means of transport such as an electric scooter or a go-kart.
The NS warns that it will be very busy on the trains to and from Zandvoort and that travelers will not be able to keep a distance of 1,5 meters. The municipality expects large crowds on the walking route from the station to the circuit.
The organization of the Dutch Grand Prix also announces that it will continue with the preparations for the event on the basis of full capacity. "As an organizer, we depend on the rules and conditions that the national government sets for us as an organization and for the visitor," says the spokesperson for the Dutch GP. “We assume that the current government measures have the desired effect and that the same measures can be released after August 13 for professionally organized sporting events. We are preparing for the return of the Dutch Grand Prix at full capacity.”
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