Fans of the Dutch Grand Prix will be compelled to wait one further year for Formula One’s return to the storied Zandvoort Circuit as organisers today officially confirmed the cancellation of the highly anticipated race.
The event’s annulment was largely expected amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with the circuit failing to feature on the sport’s provisional revised calendar.
“Due to the worldwide spread of the coronavirus the Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix has, as previously announced, been postponed,” read an official statement.
“The organization of the Dutch Grand Prix, in consultation with Formula One Management, has had to conclude that it is no longer possible to hold a race with an audience this year.
“Therefore, it has been decided to postpone the race definitively to 2021. Together with the FIA, Formula One Management will determine the schedule for 2021, and with that the new date of the Dutch Grand Prix. Like every year the date will be announced by the FIA by the end of 2020. All tickets remain valid for the new race.”
2020 was slated to be F1’s first return to the Netherlands since 1985 where the McLaren-TAG of Niki Lauda pipped teammate Alain Prost to the line by a mere 0.2s.
The race had originally outlined its intentions to be run on a postponed date later in the year but hopes faded once it became clear the sport was not considering the Dutch venue to feature on a revised European leg which is set to make up the opening stint of the calendar.
A doubleheader Austrian Grand Prix will likely stage the opening two rounds of the 2020 calendar, followed by races in either Hungary or Germany.