The circuit measures 4.259 kilometres and the fact that it is almost on the beach brings with it the difficulty of wind generally blowing quite a bit of sand across its surface. The track climbs and drops significantly and several sections are crowd favourites.

Definitely worth a mention is Tarzan corner, or Tarzanbocht in the local language, a sharp right hairpin at the end of the start-finish straight, which is slightly banked. It is famous for an amazing overtaking move when Gilles Villeneuve went round the outside of Alan Jones in the 1979 race. Other classic turns include the Rob Slotemakerbocht and the fast and blind right-hander, Scheivlak.

For its return to the calendar, the circuit has been modified and made more spectacular at a couple of points in particular: turn 3 and the last one, turn 14, now boast a 19 degree banking, which should allow the drivers to go through them at much higher speeds. The narrowness of the track and its twisty nature means that overtaking is far from easy and a medium to high downforce set up is required. Qualifying will be very important. For Zandvoort’s return to the calendar a special high grip surface has been produced by Shell. Its excellent characteristics have led to it instantly being referred to as “Flying Dutchman,” a nickname applied to every particularly brilliant driver from these parts. There are two DRS zones, between turns 10 and 11 and on the main straight.