How Formula E plans to tap into Max Verstappen's Zandvoort madness

Formula E has announced three new venues for the start of the Gen4 era next season, including one that has built a significant reputation since returning to Formula 1 in 2021.

Zandvoort has always been a fan-favourite circuit for its history, banked corners and elevation changes, but it has also become one of the most energetic and party-like races on the F1 calendar.

This year's Dutch Grand Prix will likely be bigger and crazier than ever before when it comes to the sea of orange, with fans turning out in force to support Verstappen in what will be F1's final visit to the Netherlands.

World Championship single-seater racing will remain, though, with Formula E and Zandvoort having agreed to a three-year contract from June 2027, featuring an option to extend.

It is a very different event that Zandvoort will be hosting, although the brand-new Gen4 machinery means it will be one of the circuits that allows Formula E's next era of cars to truly be pushed to the limit.

However, all of that is well and good when it comes to the track action, but what it will need is thousands of people in attendance. It is something Formula E's vice-president of host cities, Oli McCrudden, is very aware of, although a solid plan has been put in place.

In a bid to utilise the growth of motorsport fandom in the Netherlands, which has largely been driven by Verstappen, Formula E has partnered with TIG Sports and Sports Vibes, the same companies that promote F1's Dutch GP.

The hope is that the promoters can tap into what Verstappen has built and use it to attract fans to attend Formula E's inaugural race at the historic venue. Alongside that, McCrudden believes the performance of the Gen4 car will encourage people to head to the track.

Asked how Formula E can use the mass interest Verstappen brought to Zandvoort to its own event, McCrudden explained in an interview with RacingNews365: "It's a great question. 

"I mean, the first thing that we've got on our side is that we're working with the guys who promoted the Dutch Grand Prix, so, for a start, they know how to go to market and they know the people there. They've got an enormous database that we're going to be optimising and using to bring people into the venue.

"The second thing is that, ultimately, it's going to be about spectacle, and the sporting spectacle has to get people jazzed up. People get excited by what they see on the track.

"And I think, again, I'll keep banging on about it, and all of us at Formula E are going to keep banging on about it. Gen4, that car is going to make people stand up and go, 'Wow'. And I'm convinced that when you see that car going around the banked corners of Zandvoort and flat out down that straight, people are going to be blown away by it.

"And that spectacle of something they've never seen before is going to capture the imagination, and I'm convinced of that."