The organisers of the Formula 1 event held at Zandvoort reveal they made a loss of over 10 million euros due to the COVID-19 pandemic according to Dutch Grand Prix Sporting Director Jan Lammers.
The Dutch GP which was held last weekend at Zandvoort hosted 70,000 spectators each day for the three days the Formula 1 event was held. This was two thirds of the capacity and having no financial backing from the government of Netherlands, the organisers only relied on the sale of tickets.
Lammers tries to explain how the event made such a huge loss even before calculations are made. The organisers had already encountered losses before the Dutch Grand Prix was held.
“We have not yet carried out all the calculations, but a few weeks ago, we had to to say goodbye to more than 10 million euros.”
“At that point you have already incurred 100 percent of your costs and then you cannot accommodate a third of the people. Moreover, we do this without a single euro of financial support from the government. We’re proud of that, but at the time we weren’t happy.
“However, when we see how other industries have been affected by coronavirus, we say that the glass is half full. So that’s still good. We don’t want to complain and whine too much, we just have to deal with it.”
“Like I said, we haven’t done the calculations yet, so we don’t know yet how big the blow is going to be.”
“However, there is a solid business structure behind the event, so we can take a hit. But this cannot go on for another two or three years, but there is no risk or danger. It’s all going fine.”
The fans were very happy and praised the event, the teams and drivers were also excited with the Dutch Grand Prix returning to the Formula 1 calendar after 36 years.
The event received even much more excitement as Max Verstappen took pole position and eventually won the race in his home ground giving the orange army a reason to celebrate.
Lewis Hamilton amid defeat by Verstappen also lauded the event because of the good atmosphere and the vintage nature of the Zandvoort track.
Jan Lammers admits although the Dutch GP faced many challenges, the fans were happy.
“It was a beautiful weekend,” said Lammers. “People came in and left with a smile on their faces.
“Getting to this point, the past year and a half has been a big challenge.
“Here and there people have resisted our event and sometimes that’s not what you want to focus on. We’ve been in court multiple times, but we’ve won all the lawsuits and got all the permits we need.
“In that respect, those challenges have only made everything better. I hope they continue to challenge us like that, because that only ensures that we continue to grow.
“If you want to put on an event like this in 2021, then you have to comply with a lot of new rules. We’ve found out about that over the past two years, but so far it’s all gone well.”
