Event: 07 Zandvoort
Date: 19th - 21st August 2017
Venue: Circuit Park Zandvoort / NLD
Track length: 4.307 kilometres
Lap record: 1m30.170s (Lance Stroll, 2016)
Distance: 33 minutes plus one lap

This weekend, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship teams and drivers travel to the Dutch seaside resort Zandvoort. But the young guns are not travelling to the North Sea for a holiday but to fight for race wins and championship points at the 4.307-kilometre long Circuit Park Zandvoort. Germany’s Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam) will try to defend his championship lead against British rookie Lando Norris (Carlin) and Sweden’s Joel Eriksson (Motopark).

Maximilian Günther is the most experienced driver of the three young talents who currently are involved in the fight for the FIA Formula 3 European Championship lead. The 20-year old is contesting his third season on the grid of the Formula One feeder series. 17-year old McLaren junior Lando Norris competes in his first full season in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and for 18-year old BMW junior Joel Eriksson it is the second year in the series. Günther who also is Mercedes-AMG DTM test and reserve driver has fond memories of the circuit embedded in the North-Sea dunes as he won the third round of last year’s Zandvoort meeting.

The circuit was opened in 1948 and up to 1985 staged the Dutch F1 Grand Prix. The 1980 edition was won by Brazilian Nelson Piquet for Brabham Ford. Today, his son Pedro Piquet (Van Amersfoort Racing) represents the Brazilian colours on the FIA F3 European Championship grid. He races for Van Amersfoort Racing, the only Dutch team in the series. In addition to Piquet, the following drivers also race for the squad around team principal Frits van Amersfoort: Harrison Newey, the son of Formula One designer Adrian Newey and the Australian rookie Joey Mawson who won the ADAC Formula 4 title with Van Amersfoort Racing, last year.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Tadasuke Makino (Hitech Grand Prix) will make his FIA Formula 3 European Championship comeback. The Honda protégé suffered a hand injury at the Norisring and consequently had to miss the Spa-Francorchamps round.

The event at Zandvoort will also be attended by Max Verstappen, one of the most successful former FIA Formula 3 European Championship aces. In 2014, the Dutchman who is regarded as coming F1 World Champion finished third in the championship behind Esteban Ocon and Tom Blomqvist and since 2015 he has regularly caused a stir in Formula One.

Harrison Newey (Van Amersfoort Racing): “Zandvoort is one of the old-school racetracks without big run-off areas. I like that and racing on this kind of circuits is big fun. But they also represent a major challenge as a driving mistake can mean an early and sudden end to you race. Zandvoort is a rollercoaster with a lot of different corners what turns this circuit into one of the nicest on the calendar when it comes to the driving. A fact that first of all applies to the qualifying. In the race, overtaking is extremely difficult if the driver ahead doesn’t make any mistakes. And there is one more reason making the Zandvoort weekend special for me: it’s the home race of my team, Van Amersfoort Racing. An additional motivation for giving my best.”