How the Dutch Made an F1 Race All About Bicycles

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Leave it to the Dutch to make their F1 Grand Prix all about bicycles.

Formula 1 has a rich history of being tied into cycling. Of course, there are collaborations between bike brands, F1 teams, and manufacturers. BMC even sponsored the Red Bull F1 Racing team in 2023. Don’t even get us started with F1 driver Valtteri Bottas basically becoming a pro gravel racer at this point.

In 2023, the city of Zandvoort and its population of 17,000 people effectively banned cars from its F1 Dutch Grand Prix. F1 podcast F1 Nation reported that fans in the Netherlands came by bicycle in droves. Just how many? Over 45,000 per day.

The Dutch Cycling Embassy says that the city has banned the 110,000+ daily attendees from arriving by private car.

The course offered several non-bike solutions. There was free, protected bike parking within walking distance of the track. Folks who experienced mechanical issues biking to the track could call a hotline for help. If you wanted, there were many off-site park and ride options to boot.

Alongside that, there are trains coming every five minutes from Zandvoort coming and going. In total, reports say that of the 300,000 people who went to watch the Dutch F1 Grand Prix, 98 percent of them came through a sustainable mode of transportation.

Perhaps most importantly, there was high-quality, protected parking.

It’s four wheels on track, and two wheels almost everywhere else this weekend at Zandvoort!

Drivers and fans have hopped on their bikes in their thousands to help do their bit for the environment #DutchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/2n9yKhg9dp

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 27, 2023

This isn’t the first time a city has emphasized bicycling to an F1 circuit. Monaco, Red Bull Ring, and Silverstone all have bike parks to some degree. Protected bike parking was available for reservation at Circuit Zandvoort, while standard bike parking was available for free.

How many bikes can we expect to see at the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix? Good question. However, considering that the Dutch have a goal of 100 percent sustainable mode share by 2025, we can expect it to only increase.