'This makes Zandvoort safer than Bahrain'

Romain Grosjean is still recovering from his bizarre crash in Bahrain. On the track of Sakhir, the Haas F1 driver shot through the crash barrier at high speed. What about safety at Circuit Zandvoort? After all, there are no huge ruoffss there either.

The NOS spoke with Jarno Zaffelli, the architect responsible for the renovation of the circuit in the Netherlands. Although Bahrain is a place where many crashes happen, he does not expect the same accident to happen in the Netherlands. "In Zandvoort the drivers do feel the speed, but they do not drive at the top speed as in Bahrain."

Less on the limit in Zandvoort

The average speed is much less and the exit lanes are a lot softer than in Bahrain. "In Zandvoort, you don't end up on asphalt, but in sand, grass or gravel. In Bahrain there is asphalt so that as a driver you know you can try something, you can look for the limit."

By the latter, Zafelli means that in Bahrain you can permit yourself as a driver to deviate from the racing line, while in the Netherlands this immediately results in a loss of many seconds due to the soft 'verge'. "He (Grosjean, ed.) would never have done that manoeuvre on a circuit like Zandvoort. Drivers behave differently there. Zandvoort is therefore safer than Bahrain, because the circuit does not give the drivers the feeling that they can cross the border without losing anything."