In 2026 Formula 1 will, for now, visit Zandvoort for the last time. After six editions since its 2021 comeback the Dutch GP is already being dropped. One reason given for ending the Dutch Grand Prix was the financial uncertainty if the event were to attract steadily fewer spectators. It now emerges that the organisers paid out as much as €20 million from reserves to the shareholders.
The Dutch GP at Zandvoort is provisionally scheduled for its final appearance on the Formula 1 calendar in 2026. Barely five years after the Grand Prix returned to the top flight in 2021 for the first time in 36 years, the curtain falls. The event has been staged without government subsidy. The financial uncertainty that came with that — alongside fears of declining attendance — was ultimately a reason to end the Grand Prix after 2026.
Twenty million euros
“Three days in a row of sell-outs is necessary for us to operate profitably,” director Robert van Overdijk told NOS. “That margin is thin. A one-off dip isn’t a disaster, but we can’t afford to permanently draw fewer spectators.” Organising the Grand Prix cost around €70 million in 2024. Reserves stood at just €3.8 million at year-end, RTL Z reports. The outlet says it reviewed the annual accounts and saw that shareholders paid themselves a dividend of €20 million in the same year. That represents a large part of the Dutch GP’s financial buffer.
According to a Dutch Grand Prix spokesperson, the dividend payout is relatively small. “Regarding the business risk: the dividend payout, which has only just been paid out for the first time, pales in comparison to the annual cost budget and the risks the Dutch Grand Prix organisation faces.” Asked by RTL Z whether an extra €20 million — on an event that costs roughly €70 million — wouldn’t actually represent a healthy buffer, the organisation replied: “Those costs are per edition and the dividend covers all editions up to and including 2024.” The organisation declined to say whether a dividend was also paid for 2025.
