The China Mail - Maxmania turns coastal Zandvoort into a sea of orange

On bikes and trains mainly: apart from the 20 gleaming machines waiting to fire up on the Dutch Grand Prix grid later in the day, cars are largely banned at the unpretentious seaside town on the North Sea coast for this annual celebration of a national hero.

Ten thousand fans an hour, most kitted out in a variety of orange hats, orange shirts, orange facepaint, disgorge onto the platforms of the modest station - one jam-packed train arrives every five minutes from Amsterdam.

"We've borrowed most of the trains in the country for this weekend," said a railway worker cheerfully.

Bad luck for residents of Leiden or Utrecht, but they are probably here, as most of the Netherlands appears to join the pilgrimage to worship the country's favourite son.

Super Max.

Verstappen's remarkable rise to the summit of F1 has ignited a huge interest in the sport in Holland where he is on a pedestal with the likes of Johan Cruyff as the country's favourite son.

One commentator suggested this week Verstappen's "bullfighter" attitude plays well with the Dutch psyche.

And after snatching pole on a stormy Saturday the Red Bull driver is now poised to match Sebastian Vettel's record of nine consecutive wins, and take another step on his gloriously relentless march to a third straight world title.

The Max factor is the primary reason behind Formula One returning to Zandvoort after a near four-decade hiatus.

- Massive spike -

Friday marked the anniversary of the last Dutch Grand Prix won by the late Niki Lauda in 1985, before F1 returned to this unpretentious but charming corner of the Netherlands in 2021.

Maxmania triggers a massive spike in Zandvoort's modest population of 17,000 to 300,000 over this race weekend.

Paying scant attention to the town's traditional 'USP', a magnificent nine kilometre long stretch of white sandy beach, the orange-clad mass of happy humanity's destination is a 4km theatre of tarmac carved into the coastal countryside half an hour's walk up the coast - in the direction of Denmark.

The double world champion's face beams down from billboards on the walk to the track.

Like a benign dictator.

Signs proclaim "Dive into the sea of orange" with almost every fan to a person wearing the national colour.

Chequered flag bunting adorns most homesteads.

Local residents set up impromptu sound systems in their front gardens to keep the passing wall of fans entertained, with a range of music from techno to Dutch pop to satisfy all tastes.

The coastal cafes do a roaring trade.

"Business is massive during the Grand Prix weekend," says a woman at one counter as she continues to pull pints of beer - armies, especially orange ones, need oiling.

One of Verstappen's former teammates, Pierre Gasly, this week described him as "an icon" of Holland,

"So it explains why 99.9 percent of the grandstands are full of orange when we come to Zandvoort," the Alpine driver added.

Every icon worthy of their name deserves a song written in their honour.

Cue 'Super Max' by the Pit Stop Boys.

Passengers on the 0805 train on Sunday morning were to a man, woman and child joining in the complex chorus of the tribute track which went "Max, Super Max, Super super Max, Max, Max" on loop.

Asked how he coped with all the adulation the man they have all come to see joked: "I wouldn't wish that on anyone!"

Before quickly adding: "No, it's a great weekend for me to come to. It's honestly great to see all the fans next to the track and it's also an amazing track to drive, so all of those things together make it a fun weekend."

He shrugged off any notion that it adds pressure.

"It doesn't bring a weight on my shoulders of extra pressure. I think it's just amazing that this is possible.

"I think nobody, like 10 years ago, even thought about a Grand Prix here. And that we're able to do that now is just fantastic and hopefully, of course, it will continue for a while.

"But for me, it's just amazing to be here, to see all the fans and drive such an incredible track."

Z.Huang--ThChM