Zandvoort (Netherlands) (AFP)

Orange tide on the Zandvoort coastal circuit: the successful return of Formula 1 to the Netherlands this weekend, after 36 years of absence, testifies to the fervor surrounding national hero Max Verstappen.

In the summer of 2019, while the first Dutch GP since 1985 was still scheduled for May 2020, 300,000 Dutch people registered for the lottery awarding the 500,000 lots of tickets available (i.e. 1 million individual requests).

The Covid-19 has postponed this meeting by one season but the time has finally arrived for 70,000 lucky people every day from Friday to Sunday (or 67% of the circuit capacity).

Dutch fans attend free practice for the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix on September 3, 2021 in Zandvoort ANDREJ ISAKOVIC Dutch driver Max Verstappen (Red Bull) walks past his supporters in the main stand during free practice on the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, September 3, 2021 at ZandvoortAFP

"I have never seen an athlete from an individual sport so popular in our country," said Erik van Haren, who covers F1 for the daily De Telegraaf.

"He is at the top, at the same level as footballers Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten", abounds Nard, 58, who started following the sport in 2015, when Verstappen arrived, and travels the circuits in a suit lion lion under the pseudonym LEGOMAX33.

Before having their GP, his compatriots gathered more than 10,000 in an Amsterdam auditorium to follow the 2019 edition of the Austrian GP.

- "Crazy" -

They also travel in large numbers to Belgium, Austria, Hungary and even Germany.

All dressed in orange, very loud and equipped with orange smoke, it is difficult to miss them.

Dutch fans attend the Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix on June 30, 2019 at the Spielberg circuit Andrej ISAKOVIC AFP / Archives

"The other pilots sometimes tell me that the number of Dutch who come to the Grands Prix is ​​crazy," smiled the person, interviewed by AFP, in 2019.

"They have something different in their blood, confirms Russian driver Nikita Mazepin. They express a lot of emotions, it's fun to have them."

This enthusiasm is good for the entire championship.

"Before him, F1 was the third national sport after football and speed skating. Now it is the second, much closer to football," said Joe van Burik, a Dutch motor sports journalist.

Audience figures unveiled in January 2020 illustrate this: with more than 100 million viewers in total in 2019, the Netherlands was one of the five largest markets for the category, along with Brazil, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Better, the audiences had progressed there by 56% in cumulative and 31.1% in number of unique viewers.

If fifteen Dutch have taken the start of 393 GP since 1950, none had been on the podium before Max's father, Jos Verstappen, twice in 1994, and none had won before the young man.

Dutch driver Jos Verstappen, driving his Arrows, during the Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix?

on March 18, 2001 in Sepang JIMIN LAI AFP / Archives

- "Verstappen effect 1.0" -

It was at the time of + Jos the boss + that the Netherlands discovered the discipline.

"The Verstappen 1.0 effect", for Van Burik.

"It is thanks to my father that the fans started to follow me, also thinks the Red Bull driver. They followed him and then themselves or their children, as motorsport lovers, were automatically interested to me."

"I must have had the biggest fan club," Jos confirms for the official F1 podcast. "It was a huge hype, but nothing like what's going on with Max."

Dutch driver Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso), next to his father Jos, on October 2, 2014 before the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA AFP / Archives

Its pedigree, its 51 podiums, 16 victories and 9 pole positions are not for nothing but they do not do everything.

His breakthrough at a difficult time for the national football team and his "frank and direct, typical Dutch" personality - described by Arjan Schouten, F1 journalist for the daily Algemeen Dagblad - also explain his immense popularity.

Youngest winner in the history of his sport in 2016 in Spain, at the age of 18 7 months and 15 days, Max, who lives in Monaco, confides "no longer being able to walk with his family in the street" in his country of origin.

© 2021 AFP