Jan Lammers showered with compliments after GP Zandvoort: “Benchmark for the rest”

The Zandvoort GP was back on the calendar for the first time since 1985. “The return was startling in any case”, the sporting director of the event looks back on it. “The fact that Zandvoort subsequently became the new benchmark for GPs was a huge compliment that we received afterwards.”

No fewer than 70,000 enthusiastic Formula 1 fans stood in the stands every day and watched Max Verstappen drive to victory. For Lammers, one image is still burned into his retina. “What was very typical for me was when Davina Michelle sang the national anthem. I thought it was very special that such a delighted crowd experienced such a subdued rendition of the Wilhelmus. That was an accent on the special weekend. Absolutely a goosebumps moment. “

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Next year, the Zandvoort Grand Prix will be ‘normal’ again on the calendar in September. The sporting director realizes that it will be a difficult job to match the last edition. “We think that with an extra audience and the addition of events around it, we have a wonderful prospect. I think it will be even better then. That is also in line with top sport. What you do today will no longer be good enough tomorrow.”

Criticism of Formula 1

Lammers is left with a ‘huge sense of satisfaction’ from the race weekend that put the Netherlands on the map. “We all did it anyway.” Nevertheless, the organization received a lot of criticism afterwards, because the Grand Prix was the only major event that could be held, while major festivals were cancelled.

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For the sporting director, this was not a blemish on the entire event in retrospect. “If people criticize us unjustly, that is their own problem”, Lammers is annoyed by the criticism, because in his view it was not factually substantiated. “We were a Testing for Access event. Everyone was screened and it was in the open air. We were often unfairly compared to events that did not have Testen for Access. If people criticize Formula 1 in Zandvoort, I really think so comparing apples to oranges.”

Corona

Although Formula 1 was a big party for Lammers, the Zandvoorter feared the worst. The race in his backyard was personally endangered because he got a hefty corona infection with a big impact. “That was quite intense. I was convinced that I was fit enough. But I lost six kilos in five days, so then I also wondered if I was going to make it to the Grand Prix.”

His health is essential for Lammers anyway. “I don’t think health is in proportion to any world championship.” As ambassador of the Rare Diseases Fund, he goes through many sad things. “I see a lot of people there fighting against the beer quay and I live in that realization every day. My own corona was my own low point of the year, but I think even that can be compared to a shoulder push,” says Lammers, who always tries to be positive. to think.

“It is a way of life. Let go of your worries for the future and the frustration of the past.” With those words, Lammers outlines his way of thinking about the diseases and of course about corona. He sees the pandemic as a ‘major limitation’, but at the same time respects all opinions. ” You should not think in lows, but in possibilities. People often talk about ‘I’, but the word ‘we’ is too often overlooked in my view. In many cases you would have to replace the word ‘I’ for ‘we’ and then you have a completely different story.”

Max Verstappen

Although Lammers lacks the ‘we’ feeling in many cases, it was present in Zandvoort last year. Max Verstappen drove there sovereignly to victory and then took the world championship in a blistering denouement. “As a result, Max has become world champion. He has handled the moment well. Many people can also strengthen themselves in daily life.”

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During the race in Zandvoort, Lammers thoroughly enjoyed Verstappen. “But I am not standing in the room with an orange shirt, Red Bull cap and a confetti cannon when he became world champion. I come out of the cockpit. I can appreciate it very much. I sympathized with Jos Verstappen’s sentiment. Because you sees it coming, it was only a matter of time.”