Formula 2 is an incredibly competitive championship as young drivers sharpen their skills, pushing to graduate and race in Formula 1.
The series has been a superb proving ground since its inaugural season in 2017, along with since 2005 whilst known as the GP2 Series which helped develop future F1 world champions Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
More recently, Formula 1 race winners such as Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Lando Norris spent just one season in Formula 2 and were immediately competitive.
The Netherlands has had a chequered history with the championship, however, as it hosted a Formula 2 round at Zandvoort in 2022 and 2023 – plus a Formula 3 round in 2021 and 2022 – but hasn’t returned to the calendar since.
Yet Nelson Valkenburg has explained on The Race F1 podcast that the Netherlands has a large Formula 2 following, mainly because of one driver on the grid.
Nelson Valkenburg believes F2 is ‘well supported’ in the Netherlands because of Richard Verschoor
Richard Verschoor has driven well this season, and he finally took his first F2 victory of the season last time out in Azerbaijan in the Feature Race.
The Dutchman has had some bad luck this season, losing two Sprint Race victories after technical infringements in Saudi Arabia and Hungary. This is a reason why Verschoor hasn’t been able to fully enjoy standing on the podium in F2, as well.
Verschoor is battling in the top 10 in the championship for Trident, despite having two race wins taken away in Formula 2.
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Valkenburg explained that Verschoor is vital to the popularity of Formula 2 in the Netherlands, despite the championship not racing in the country.
He said: “It’s actually quite well supported, but I think in part that is thanks to Richard Verschoor, who is in the championship and actually does well and is quite a good character. So there is a storyline for us there to follow as well.”
Why doesn’t Formula 2 or F3 race at the Dutch Grand Prix?
Zandvoort is a very compact circuit with a track layout of just 4.259km in length, leaving very little room for the pit lane and paddock in the infield.
The Dutch circuit isn’t on either the F2 or FIA F3 schedule for 2025 and is unlikely to return to the calendars in the near future, either, due to its lack of space.
F2 also faced issues in 2023 as the junior series pushed to add Zandvoort to its calendar as a replacement round after Imola had to be called off because of flooding in the region.
Zandvoort would eventually agree to stage F2 on the Formula 1 support bill in 2023. But the problems which arose during negotiations reportedly put the series off seeking a return in 2024 and beyond.