Formula 1 starts again in the Netherlands with the 12th round of the season.
There are 35 GPs held at the Circuit Zandvoort which was part of the World Championship as early as 1952 but which was shelved after 1985. It made a comeback in 2021, although it was also supposed to be raced in 2020, but the event was cancelled due to the pandemic. This year's is expected to be the last GP at Zandvoort, as his contract expires at the end of 2026.
GP Data
According to Brembo Group engineers who work closely with all Formula 1 drivers, the 4,259-metre-long Circuit Zandvoort falls into the category of circuits that are not very demanding on the brakes. On a scale of 1 to 5, it earned a difficulty index of 2 because the 7 braking sections per lap involve the use of the brakes for just over 12 seconds: the 2 braking sections in the Hard category are the only ones in which the deceleration is at least 2.5, another is Medium and 4 Light.
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The toughest corner
From the simulations carried out , the hardest corner of the Circuit Zandvoort for the braking system is the first after the finish line. The single-seaters reach 323 km/h and drop to 126 km/h in 2.97 seconds, during which they travel 171 meters. Drivers exert a load of 114 kg on the brake pedal and are subjected to 4 g. The braking power is 1,659 kW.
Half a second
Compared to the 2025 Dutch GP, the braking is less intense due to the characteristics of the 2026 cars. At Turn 11 a year ago, cars lost 175 km/h in 2.22 seconds in which they traveled 107 meters, while this year they should lose 172 km/h in 2.68 seconds, advancing 146 meters in the meantime. The deceleration suffered by the drivers will drop from 4.5 g to 3.2 g and the effort on the brake pedal will also be lower: from 152 kg to 91 kg.
At Zandvoort on 28 August 1977 Niki Lauda took his last victory with Ferrari. Starting from the fourth spot, the Austrian gained second position on lap 6 and on lap 20 passing Jacques Laffite he took the lead. For Lauda it was the 15th GP won with Ferrari, 13 of which with Brembo cast iron discs that from 1975 began to equip the 312T and the subsequent 312T2. He also took it to Zandvoort, but in 1985 Niki took his last Formula 1 victory.
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Not always the maximum
The use of maximum size brakes does not always generate positive results because in some environmental conditions the single-seaters would have an oversized system: excessive braking power would make it difficult to reach the minimum operating temperature of the carbon of the discs and pads, hindering the correct generation of friction. In such cases, there is a risk of glazing, despite the braking performance and also the wear of the components, which tends to increase.