Six editions after Formula 1 returned to the Dutch dunes following a 36-year gap, it leaves again on 23 August. The man who made the comeback commercially possible is the one least interested in mourning it.
Max Verstappen has three wins and five podiums from five races at Zandvoort since 2021. Speaking to reporters after Hungary, he treated the end of the race as an administrative fact rather than a loss.
"It's my home Grand Prix, so for sure I'm going to enjoy it a lot," he said. "I hope, driving-wise. Hopefully a bit more than I did this weekend, at least. But, yeah, it's going to be great to see the fans."
His argument is essentially that the calendar and the circuit are different things. "Okay, we won't have a Formula 1 Grand Prix there, but there are a lot of other series that still race there, and if you want to have a track day, the track is not going to disappear. So, for me, I'll still have my fun driving around there, just not in Formula 1, but that's okay."
The praise he did offer went to the promoters. "It's incredibly impressive what they have done to bring it back, and I think, at the time when they hosted the first one, it was a great example for a lot of other Grands Prix as well of how to host and entertain. So, yeah, it's a shame, but on the other hand, the track's still there and I'm sure I will do more laps around there. So, it is what it is."
A tribute helmet is coming, which he confirmed to Viaplay and then immediately downplayed. "I'm going to do my best, of course. There's a nice helmet coming. That's a bit of a tribute to the Netherlands. That kind of thing, but that's all you can make of it."
The suggestion that Scheivlak might one day bear his name got shorter shrift. "That's not me. Usually those names are only given when drivers are already dead, aren't they? So you don't have to talk to me about that."
Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli have both called the departure a shame and praised the crowd, without going further.
Off track, the exit has already happened. Prince Bernhard of Orange-Nassau, who acquired Circuit Zandvoort with Menno de Jong in 2016 and delivered the 2021 F1 return, sold his stake in late July to De Jong and Coen Groeneveld. Terms were not disclosed.
"The mission is complete," he said in a statement. "We brought Formula 1 back to the Netherlands and Zandvoort was on the world stage for six editions. It doesn't get any better and then you have to dare to choose. I hand over my interests to the partners with whom I have built this."
He intends to stay in motorsport while moving into artificial intelligence ventures.
Isack Hadjar's interest in the weekend is narrower and more revealing about 2026. He rates Zandvoort as one of the few tracks left where drivers are not managing battery deployment down the straights, and said Hungary had already felt more like real racing for the same reason.
"It's a bit sad that you point out the best circuits based on how energy-rich they are," Hadjar said. "Spa is one of the best circuits, but it was one of the worst circuits for us to drive on. We expect Zandvoort to be good too, so we have to enjoy it while we still can, before we go to Monza."
Zandvoort's banking was rebuilt ahead of 2021 precisely because the old layout made passing close to impossible. Whether the send-off produces a race worth remembering is the part nobody quoted here is willing to predict.
Verstappen goes into it sixth on 109 points, in a Red Bull that has spent the year well adrift of Mercedes.