21/08/2023
NEWS STORY
The C1 compound is nominated at the Dutch Grand Prix as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium and C3 as P Zero Red soft.
This is the same choice as the last two years (since Zandvoort returned to the calendar) with the difference being that the current C1 compound is softer than its predecessors.
A total 32 Formula 1 Grands Prix have been held at Zandvoort since 1952, with the track returning to the calendar in 2021 after a 35-year absence. The most successful team in Zandvoort is Ferrari with eight wins, while the driver with the most victories (4) is Jim Clark.
Most drivers made three pit stops last year. On paper, the fastest strategy is a two-stopper, but it's possible to stop just once with careful tyre management. Last year, the opportunity for a final stop onto the softs was made possible by a late safety car (following a virtual safety car).
Overtaking is tricky because of the narrow track and constant sequence of corners. This makes qualifying even more important in terms of the end result.
The Zandvoort circuit was inaugurated in 1948 and is located between the sand dunes right next the North Sea. As a result, sand can sometimes get blown onto the track and reduce the grip from the tyres: which is a risk at Sakhir in Bahrain as well.
The Dutch Grand Prix gets the second half of the season underway, a week before Monza. The Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d'Italia 2023 will take place from September 1-3: the home race for Ferrari and AlphaTauri.
Mario Isola: "The second half of the season gets underway with a unique race. The Dutch Grand Prix takes place in Zandvoort: one of the most traditionally demanding tracks on the calendar that returned to the Formula 1 schedule three years ago on the wave of all the local support for Max Verstappen, who repaid his fans amply with a pair of victories from the last two races.
"It's a very twisty track with two banked corners - Turn 3 and Turn 14 - that are steeper than Indianapolis, by way of comparison. On corners like this the stress on the tyres is greater than it would be through normal corners, as the vertical forces increase with the much higher speeds due to the banking.
"We've brought the same tyres as 2022, at least as far as the names are concerned: C1, C2, and C3. However, the current C1 is actually a new compound for this year, positioned between the C2 and the previous C1, which is now called the C0.
"Last year, in a race that was characterised by two neutralisations, no fewer than 14 drivers - including the top three - used all three compounds, underlining the wide variety of options available to the strategists on the pit wall."