Formula 1 is ‘a men’s party’ with a lot of drinking and ‘crazy talk’

It is crowded on Saturday morning in the 08.26 train from Haarlem to Zandvoort. The vast majority of the passengers are men and are pressed against each other with orange caps and black Red Bull shirts. The compartment smells of coffee. A few open a can of Heineken and eat a currant bun with it.

Less than an hour later at the official 538 Dutch Grand Prix campsite, which can accommodate 2,200 visitors this weekend, dozens of visitors have already switched to beer. 39-year-old Hans Nijssen from Eindhoven is standing here with friends (“about thirty people”) in a large event tent to escape the roaring rain.

The group likes a beer. He drank his first around nine o’clock, says Nijssen around a quarter to ten, the second is on the table in front of him. “I first pour two cups of coffee in the morning, and then it’s just goan.” He does not keep track of how much he drinks in a day. “I think a new one about every half hour.”

When reports appeared during the Grand Prix of Austria last July about undesirable behavior towards women by Dutch fans in particular, a discussion about alcohol consumption during Formula 1 also started. Some women reported on social media that their dresses were lifted and their bodies touched over the weekend.

Helena Hicks, founder of the website Females in Motorsport, argued in favor at the time NRC for Formula 1 to acknowledge sexism in sport and to have a conversation about excessive drinking. “During a race weekend, people are knocked out in the stands because they have drunk too much. When they drink, they do strange things.”

Groped against their will

Austria was not unique. When the race in Zandvoort was held a little less than two months later, about a hundred women reported inappropriate behavior to the Dutch fan club Formula 1 Women. For example, these women were told to “just be pounded hard,” were groped, or received unwanted kisses on the mouth. “You can’t imagine women suffering from it during the Formula 1 race in Zandvoort,” said fan club president Svenja Tillemans to NRC earlier this week..

To prevent such behavior this year, organizer Dutch Grand Prix took measures around the circuit and at the official campsite. Security guards have been given extra briefing to recognize and intervene in inappropriate behavior against women. From Friday morning to Sunday evening, two confidential advisers from the GGD Kennemerland will also be present on the grounds around the race track. The Dutch Grand Prix did not limit the sale of alcohol, much to Tillemans’ dismay. “You have to avoid alcohol abuse. Drinking is a really big problem.”

It is difficult to say whether the measures actually prevent transgressive behaviour. The GGD does not make any statements about how many reports are received. And also Svenja Tillemans, from the women’s fan club, does not want to say whether she has had any signals from women. It is also not clear how much beer flows through the taps; the Dutch Grand Prix does not register that.

In the event tent at the campsite, Hans Nijssen from Eindhoven calls the atmosphere this weekend “cosy”. Yes, a large group of drinking men together can get rowdy at some point. Especially when men are in the majority like during a Grand Prix. According to the organization, the male-female ratio is approximately 80-20 at the campsite.

“If you put a hundred thousand guys together and a few women walk by in leather pants, then there is sometimes a whistle,” says Nijssen. He calls the fact that attention is being paid to the (social) safety of women this year and that confidential advisers have been engaged, “all a bit exaggerated”.

‘Weekend away from home’

Ronald van Loon (52), who is standing a few meters away, is pleased with the measures. “I was in Austria last year, where I really saw a lot of misogynistic behavior. Choirs with ‘you have to put a penis in there’, that kind of work”, he says, leaning on a standing table. He also finds the amount of alcohol that goes through a number of visitors problematic. “Some men are away from home for a weekend, start drinking at 09:00, stir each other up. Then you get that.”

Van Loon has not yet seen scenes like in Austria in Zandvoort. He has been here since Friday afternoon with his girlfriend Veronica (52), who has displayed the contents of her toiletry bag on the standing table next to him. She bends over and puts on her makeup in a large hand mirror. Behind her, a man bellows, pointing his friends at her buttocks and making a hip movement: “Do you have a nice lipstick for me too?!” She raises her eyebrows and continues to apply her foundation unperturbed.

Veronica, who doesn’t want her last name in the newspaper, is here for her boyfriend. She certainly thinks the Grand Prix is ​​a men’s party, although she has not felt unsafe so far. “I work at a secondary school, so I know how to deal with teenagers. It is a pity that there is nowhere on the campsite to do your make-up.”

Fan Club President: ‘Women not safe in Formula 1’

About twenty other women who are in Zandvoort on Saturday have had similar experiences. Bibi Hinrichs (31) talks about a “man atmosphere” and “crazy man talk”. “You hear them joking among themselves about the home front, for example, or about ‘hot chicks’. But the atmosphere is otherwise very good.” She doesn’t feel unsafe at all.

Mobile bars

In Zandvoort itself, where crowds of people also come, performances take place and pubs serve beer in mobile bars, no confidential advisers have been deployed. That is not necessary, says mayor David Moolenburgh (CDA), because the village also receives about a hundred thousand visitors on an average summer day at the weekend. “Horeca entrepreneurs in Zandvoort are perfectly capable of recognizing bad behavior and taking action themselves.”

However, there are more security guards – “at least double” – on the street than usual. Supermarkets are no longer allowed to sell alcohol after three o’clock – although a few residents of Zandvoort know how to turn that to their own advantage. Several people were approached by enforcers on Friday because they sold alcohol “out of their window”, according to the mayor.

Towards the end of the afternoon, around five o’clock, Zandvoort fills up with racing fans. The qualifications are over, a hundred thousand people saw Max Verstappen pole position to take. In the Haltestraat, renamed ‘pit street’ by Heineken, ‘I’m Every Woman’ by Whitney Houston blares through the speakers.

Evi Smits (18) from Zandvoort is behind the bar. She loves the Formula 1 weekend, men don’t bother her that much. “They flirt with you a bit more, sometimes make obscure remarks. But I know exactly where security is,” she says, pointing to an enforcer, “so I don’t feel unsafe at all.”