“Two Great F1 Races Are Leaving Next Year – Here’s Which One You Should Go To in 2026”

Next year marks the end of the road (for now) for two of Formula One’s most historic venues. The Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort will be departing the F1 calendar after 2026. Spain will still have a presence thanks to the arrival of the Madrid Grand Prix next year keeping Spanish fans happy as they seek to continue supporting their home heroes at the racetrack. The Dutch, however, are less fortunate with no suitable replacement leaving 4-time world champion Max Verstappen without a home race. Not like that’ll stop the Dutch army from travelling to circuits nearby or far away. We already see Verstappen grandstands in places like Spa and Spielberg. But still, it stings that Zandvoort, a circuit revolutionised since its reintroduction 35 years after it left the F1 calendar and has come alive as a result of the success of Max Verstappen will no longer feature on the calendar. So, I took it upon myself to attend both races in 2025 and see for myself. Which race should you experience while you still can?

To answer that, I’ll compare them across 10 categories from transport and facilities to the atmosphere and the quality of the race before deciding which event is the better experience and worth the money.

Getting to and from the Circuit/Transport

In Barcelona, I stayed in a hostel just a 5 minute walk from the metro train station. From there, it was only a few stops to get the train station that takes you to Montemelo, the closest stop to the circuit. Then you could either walk half an hour through quite a handful of market stalls full of F1 merch and food and drink, or a free shuttlebus was available that dropped you within 5 minutes of the circuit. However, the shuttlebus was extremely busy on the Saturday and Sunday and I waited over 15 minutes for one on the Saturday so just ended up walking on the Sunday. All in all, the trip from my hotel to the track took about 1 hour 15 minutes, impressive given how far the circuit is from Barcelona. I should also mention that I did set off quite early on days to avoid heavy traffic flow and to catch all the on-track action. On Sunday I set off around half 6 in the morning as the first bit of on track action started around half 8, hence the busier and longer wait on the Sunday.

Zandvoort was more or less the same. We stayed in a hotel close to the Noord train station, and then from there it was a 5 minute train ride to Amsterdam Central, where frequent trains straight to Zandvoort were easily found after following all the orange. You were rarely waiting more than 5 minutes for a train to arrive, most of the time there were 2 trains waiting so you could easily sit down, same in Barcelona. From Zandvoort station, a pleasant walk along the promenade eventually led to our gate at the far end of the circuit. Once again, you couldn’t go 100 yards without coming across a merch or food stand, they were even giving out free food at a few stalls if you were there early enough. There was even a Nintendo Switch 2 booth that opened up on the way back if people wanted to do more racing. Not to mention the few beach bars that were open from pretty early in the morning that were a nice stop on the way back. Since track action started later in Zandvoort than Barcelona, we could leave later and enjoy breakfast without feeling rushed.

For as flawless and smooth as getting to the circuit was, it was the exact opposite getting back. My word, leaving the circuit was brutal. Both Fridays thankfully had minimal trouble, we were waiting next to no time to get back on to the train. The same could not be said about Saturday and Sunday. Expect to wait one to two hours in endless queues for a train if you arrive at any normal time. I even tried to delay my trip back to the station on both Sundays to try and avoid the heaviest of traffic, which didn’t work. Thankfully, once you had passed the initial waiting and were at the station, trains arrived very swiftly indeed, a saving grace after waiting in a line for 2 hours. Unfortunately, by using public transport this is going to happen, either you leave before everyone does or you wait till much later to head to the station. Next time I’ll skip the podium and make an early dart, as I’ve heard those who did were on a train within minutes.

Queues lasted up to 2 hours on some days.

Both cities had efficient, affordable transport to the circuit, but suffered from painful post-race exits. I’ll give Zandvoort the edge as the scenery nearby is nicer and more atmospheric.

Circuit Facilities

This details everything available once in the circuit. Firstly, security were fine, and bag checks were very quick as I had already checked beforehand what was allowed to bring in. Zandvoort doesn’t allow any food and only a 0.5 litre bottle of water that can be refilled, whereas in Barcelona I brought a load of goodies, 2 1.5 litres of water which came in very handy with the conditions there. That meant that in Zandvoort’s case you had to venture to the food stalls to get food, and as much as I wanted to avoid them, you can’t really go 10 hours without food. Where we were sat, in the Pit Grandstand, there were plenty of food vendors a short distance either side of the grandstands, with plenty of diverse foods available. Obviously, your usual Pizza, Chips, Burgers, Chicken were available but there were also Gyros and Turkish Pizzas that were nice. For around 10 euros for food, its what you’d expect to pay at a venue like that. I didn’t even bother with drinks as it seemed like the queue for beverages were twice the size of any food stall, and there were more drink stalls than anything there. I don’t know if it were because you weren’t allowed to take in your own drinks, but I had no incentive to even bother getting a drink that wasn’t water. Refill stations were plentiful if a little spread out. Once you got to one there were about 6 or 7 little dispensers next to each other so waiting was negligible, and they were all nice and clean.

What wasn’t nice and clean however were the toilets (duh). I was surprised at the lack of hygiene at the multiple toilets available, as Zandvoort opted for toilets you would see at festivals. Only one sink too and soap was sparce especially towards the end of the day, so I was lucky I had hand sanitizer on hand. Toilets were unisex, although there were plastic urinals off to the side where most of the men went, but you were still queueing as one which slowed things down. Of course, there were plenty of merchandise stands inside the circuit, especially at the Fanzone. Of course, they were overpriced but interestingly they were doing a 30% discount on a lot of products after the race finished to incentivise more people to buy their stock. This didn’t happen at Barcelona as far as I’m aware, however I had no intentions of buying merch there either when you can get cheaper elsewhere. Speaking of Barcelona, I have to say I was more impressed with their facilities. Whilst I did not buy any food inside the circuit, I did notice that the prices were similar, although I did buy a few ice creams on the days and they were about 3 euros each, but they were worth it for the coldness alone. Each grandstand had a dedicated toilet for both men’s and women’s, and thankfully as guys you take a lot less time queuing for a toilet but still having the differentiation is great. Water refill stations were a lot more common due to the temperature; however, you were queuing for a lot longer. Lastly, whilst WIFI wasn’t available at the circuit, connection was good and I was able to use my phone all the time, which came in handy as both tickets were on my phone.

I’m definitely giving Barcelona the edge on this one for overall being cleaner and less chaotic, especially allowing you to bring your own food is a huge cost-effective bonus as well.

Trackside Activities

Both circuits had fanzones within easy reach of my grandstand, no more than a 10 minute walk away, but each delivered a different experience. Some of the activities at Barcelona were spread across the circuit, perfect for those that were situated a fair distance away from the ‘main’ grandstands, with a few stalls that would usually be in the Fanzone further down the circuit around Turn 9. Zandvoort however, had everything in one place, including the Blast Simulators, Pit Stop Challenges, F1 Simulators and most importantly, the main stage itself, and what a stage it was. It really makes it feel like I was at Glastonbury, outshining even the British GP Stage, which is even used for a festival! They weren’t kidding when they said to bring the atmosphere to the main stage, because that’s what happened. Driver Q&A and DJ sets kept it buzzing all weekend, and while I didn’t stay for the late-night shows (getting home would’ve been near impossible), the atmosphere by day was already electric. There was so much open space which when getting in in the early hours made it appear quite empty; it was soon filled up.

Barcelona similarly had quite a spacious area at the stage, although without a runway like Zandvoort had it was a little harder to get a  clearer view of the drivers. Both fanzones offered a lot of unique stalls adhering to the place you were. In Spain, they even had a self-service shop where you could buy your essentials with next to no queue. Other activities like the LEGO stall, Match Attax stall and the Podium were present, which were unsurprisingly busy throughout the day.

What the Netherlands exceeded massively with however, was the access to the free F1 Academy Paddock. Whenever the girls were not competing, you could freely enter both paddocks to walk around, see the cars and the drivers were ever present there too to sign things and take pictures. That was awesome and gave us the fans a rare level of access for free!

Barcelona’s Fanzone was solid and well ran, but Zandvoort’s festival atmosphere with the addition of the F1 Academy Paddock access made it the clear winner for trackside activities.

Grandstands/General Admission Experience

For Barcelona I was sat in the J Grandstand which was halfway down the main straight. My view for the weekend was great, you could see a good chunk of the straight and into Turn 1 too, as well as the exit of Turn 5 and into Turn 6. The screens were well placed, and we could keep up with what was going on during the races. Most of the overtaking and action came on the straight down to Turn 1, with the feeder series providing some great and sometimes chaotic action into the braking zone. The grandstand was unsurprisingly uncovered which worked great for my tan, but it was very warm. It was ideal that one of the entry gates was outside the grandstand meaning I could go straight to my seat once inside the venue.

When I wasn’t baking alive in my seat, I hunted for shady spots with good views. You were able to walk around the whole circuit fairly easily, albeit the last part of the track was blocked off with walls so you could only see the track if you were situated in those grandstands. I found that the hill next to the Turn 7 chicane was ideal, even if I struggled to stay out of the sun. I was there for the second half of Friday, watching FP2 as well as the feeder series qualifying. It was a great view, as you could see my grandstand from the other side, but the tight and tricky chicane made for a few off track moments and spins which made it a worthy spot. You really get a sense of speed difference between the different cars there that you don’t see as much when on a straight, so it was good to both sides of that. One frustration was fans standing on the edge of the stand, blocking views, which led to staff constantly stepping in. I remember getting shouted at for standing up to see the safety car restart, which I found odd.

Not intentional, but my grandstand at the Dutch Grand Prix was also on the main straight heading into Turn 1. Both tracks are quite different, with Barcelona’s main straight being over 1km long and Zandvoort’s being around 600m, so you could see the entire main straight which was great. What was vastly different however was that we could see the entire pit lane, whereas I could only see the pit exit at Barcelona. I was at an angle at Zandvoort where you could about see the cars in the fast lane, but all activity towards the garage I could see very clearly. We were sat opposite the Aston Martin garage, potentially a good omen as both scored points that weekend.

What was a shame however is that you were denied access to a lot of the General Admission areas if you didn’t have a GA ticket, which in concept makes sense to allow GA users better seats and views, but not even on the Friday were we allowed to venture elsewhere to find some cool views of the track. Our view was good enough that we saw a lot of action, but it would have been nice to see more technical parts of the track that GA users could have done. No cover for our grandstand but it wasn’t as much of a deal in Zandvoort, with some good sun but we weren’t boiling alive, and the grandstand once again was close to one of the entry gates.

I preferred our view at Zandvoort with the pit lane being in full view, but the lack of GA made it sting a little.

Crowd vibe & energy

Unsurprisingly both circuits’ fans were amazing, loud and chaotic across the weekend. The Spanish were very passionate for their home heroes of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, but a lot were in more support for the 2 time world champion, whereas in Zandvoort a lot of noise came for Max Verstappen. At both circuits, fan favourites like the two McLarens, Ferraris and the Mercedes were well cheered for two, with Nico Hulkenberg given a lot of cheers at Zandvoort for being what he described as the closest to a home race. The Spanish would cheer Fernando on every time he passed us which was great, in a similar fashion to when the Tifosi cheered on both Ferraris every lap when I went to Monza, less so for Max though. There was of course a massive cheer for him when Lando Norris retired, which I think is partially down to the fact Lando isn’t as liked to the Dutch fans now, as well as the fact it promoted Verstappen up to 2^nd.

As a Verstappen fan, I of course experienced pain in Spain with his incident with Russell and his subsequent penalty, and elation with what was a great result at the time, only now surpassed with his excellent weekend in Monza, so its hard for me to not prefer Zandvoort. However, one big distinction that will give it the edge was the pre-race atmosphere. Whereas Barcelona felt like a bit of a drag to wait for lights out, it was non-stop energy at Zandvoort. We were lucky enough to have a DJ on the podium who would keep the energy high with loads of songs, dances and good vibes. The crowd provided a lot of entertainment on the screens which made for great vibes and made the build-up that much more exciting. We were all given flags that we would wave in tandem with music, as well as a giant tifo. The hour before lights out felt like a blur, and the music only stopped once the formation lap got underway.

Both crowds were great during the racing action, but Zandvoort created a pre-race atmosphere I haven’t experienced at a grand prix before that definitely made the experience that much more memorable.

Support Races

I know not everyone goes to the grand prix to watch the support races, but not only are they more than not more entertaining than the F1, but I feel for the price you pay for these tickets its worth getting the most value out of them and sometimes these races are really good. Yes, maybe getting up a lot earlier to watch them might be a struggle, but they sure do wake you up with the amount of racing action you usually see. Both Barcelona and Zandvoort had different series taking place with the F1, which made sure the days weren’t spent twiddling our thumbs waiting for the F1 to start. In Barcelona, F2, F3 and the Porsche Supercup were on display whereas in Zandvoort, we had the Porsche as well as F1 Academy, which are the female drivers.

Barcelona has an instant edge as I do follow the F2 and F3 series quite closely and will watch their races back home anyway when I get the chance, whereas I am not as interested in F1 Academy nor Porsche. However, that didn’t stop the races being great to watch. In Zandvoort, there were plenty of battles, incidents and action to keep us watching. Barcelona had some great racing, and lots of incidents at Turn 1 especially. Overall, Barcelona was more action packed and had a lot more events going on, which was sometimes difficult to keep up with and left little time to go and leave your seat but if that works for you then great, it did work for me. You will get a bit more downtime in Zandvoort.

F2 and F3 were great appetisers before the F1.

If you prefer F1 Academy you may find Zandvoort more interesting as they have confirmed to be going back there for 2026, but my vote goes to Barcelona with F2 and F3 never failing to disappoint.

The Race

Well, the main event, what you are really paying and coming to see at a grand prix. All will be for nothing if the race is dull and boring right? Not really. My first grand prix I went to was the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, which was dominated by Max Verstappen, but I was so overwhelmed by being at a grand prix that I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Since then, all the races I’ve gone to I have really enjoyed for more reasons you may expect. But you are hoping that the race is good. Obviously as a Max fan I want him to win, but that didn’t stop me from supporting Lewis Hamilton at the British GP last year or Charles Leclerc at Monza last year. Both races I went to this year were won by Oscar Piastri, but I found they were very entertaining in different ways. At Spain, whilst not much happened out front in terms of racing action, we knew that Max was on a different strategy with a 3 stop as opposed to a 2 stop, which failed as a result of the safety car. He had to put on a set of hards instead of softs which led to him being passed by Leclerc and temporarily by Russell, before the team told Max to give the place back and then…yeah not my proudest moment wearing orange within the grandstand. Obviously, you would need to know enough about strategy to get the most enjoyment as just watching from afar made it look a little dull, but as a strategy head myself I found it fascinating…until it wasn’t for Max!

Zandvoort of course had the multiple safety cars, the two Ferraris crashing out and of course Lando’s DNF leading to Isack Hadjar’s first podium in F1. The race was more chaotic than anything, but that’s what made it all the more entertaining. It did rain for a brief period, but not enough to affect the track or the drivers. Of course, we had a massive downpour about 20 minutes after the race finished, but that’s usual. Compare that to the beautiful sunny weather of Barcelona.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZZ2r3nZ42c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KLbHoRRkuY

I would say that both races were good, not one’s I was desperate to watch back however, but both had me entertained for different reasons, the strategy of Spain and the drama of the Dutch. Hadjar’s first podium in F1 made things extra special at Zandvoort.

Weather

One of the most unpredictable things when going on a holiday to a grand prix is the weather and what to bring. Thankfully, you can kind of expect the sorts of temperatures and humidity you can expect at both venues to best prepare for the weekend. In Spain, it was warm, averaging around 30 degrees Celsius over my 5 days there. Make sure to take plenty of suncream, water and always wear a hat or you will suffer. It was a race to find shade during lull periods as walking in the heat past 9am in the morning was terrible, another reason to arrive at the circuit early and avoid train congestion in peak heat. It was fabulous weather for a holiday, and it was great exploring Barcelona for a few days in the weather, but you will bake alive if not prepared at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya.

Zandvoort on the other hand, was far more mixed. From sunshine, to rain, it had it all. Temperatures over the week hovered around the low to mid 20’s, so it was always warm, even if the sun never shone its face for most of the weekend. Still, very important to bring suncream as it was the dangerous sun that would burn you when you would least expect it. The rain that we got on the Sunday didn’t do enough to affect the race and was just an inconvenience but served as a reminder to never travel without a poncho.

Spain was a lot easier to predict and made for less packing ideally, whereas Zandvoort felt too similar to home, packing shorts, trousers, waterproofs, everything you would wear on a daily basis here in the UK. Barcelona was great weather for a holiday and as long as you come prepared, you will be ok, and I overall preferred it.

Price

Grand Prix’s are expensive these days, and it seems like they will continue to increase in price as F1 becomes even more popular and in demand. There are very few venues that you can attend over the 3 days for less than £1000. I will only breakdown my costs over the weekends, rather than delve into prices for different tickets or accommodation. As good as General Admission can be in terms of going on a budget, I think it is worth forking out a bit more money for a guaranteed seat in a grandstand.

My flights into Barcelona and Amsterdam were reasonably priced, with Barcelona being £300 for a return from Liverpool and Amsterdam being £350 from Manchester per person. My accommodation was a lot better in Amsterdam but it came at a cost. Whereas my 2 star hotel in Barcelona was only £750 for 4 nights, it was £1100 for my hotel in Amsterdam. However, there will definitely be cheaper places if you look elsewhere, we just wanted a close place to the trains. Speaking of train prices, both are relatively reasonable. In Spain, you could purchase a 5 day pass that would allow you to go on all the public transport options in the city, including buses, metro and the train to Montmelo. It worked out around £30 per person. In contrast, that was the same amount for a 3 day pass in Amsterdam, so we had to buy 2 of them as we were there for 6 days. The grandstand tickets at Barcelona were around £500 per person, whereas my (better) grandstand tickets at Zandvoort were £700 per person. I think both were worth their prices for the view and experience, and usually the more expensive the better the view, though if I were going again next year I would look elsewhere to cheaper grandstands as I would imagine the prices will increase again.

At the circuit, prices were relatively similar. You’re going to be paying around 10 euros for water and a beer, 10 euros for food, and the merchandise was and will always be a joke. If you want to get merchandise there, make sure you try out the vendors on the way to the circuit because they will usually have it at reduced or retail prices, as they always increase the price at the circuit. They didn’t allow cash in either sites as far as I’m aware, so always bring card as payment.

Value for money wise, I think both are pretty similar, of course I am not including any other prices like places we went to in Barcelona or Amsterdam, just the grand prix experience. You can make your experience as cheap or as expensive as you want, I am happy with what I paid for and felt like both were equally good value for money. Ultimately, it will always cost to go to a grand prix, but the experience you have can be tailored to fit whatever budget you want (so long as its enough!).

Area

One of the biggest perks of going to a grand prix in Europe is that most circuits are within reach of brilliant cities, meaning you can make more of your trip than just the race (even though that’s worth it on its own!). Barcelona and Amsterdam are two of Europe’s most attractive destinations, and what makes them even better is how different they are.

Barcelona is a beautiful place with so many incredible places and things to see. I went and saw the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell, as well as exploring the city of Barcelona was a blast. During race week, there was even a free F1 event in the main plaza where you could see historic cars, try simulators, buy merch, and dive into the history of the Spanish Grand Prix. And of course, the food — the tapas I had away from the circuit was fantastic, and I only wished we’d had a couple more days to enjoy more of it.

Amsterdam is a totally different vibe from Barcelona in many ways. The city is a lot less warm in contrast, but it is stunning to walk through. The canals, narrow buildings, and architecture was amazing and is really unique to anything I’ve ever seen before. Food was top notch, the number of things to do or see kept us busy and the weather was nice enough where we could stroll around at leisure. ne thing to keep in mind though — the bikes. They won’t stop for you, so stay alert! And, of course, Amsterdam offers the Red Light District, something you won’t find in Barcelona.

Park Guell

Just a handsome man enjoying the sights of Amsterdam.

Both cities were easy to traverse, packed with personality, and perfectly complemented the grand prix experience. Which one you prefer depends on what vibe you want from your trip, personally, I loved Amsterdam just a bit more.

Conclusion

It’s sad that at least for now, the Spanish and Dutch Grand Prix’s will bid adieu next year in favour of other tracks that will not hold the legacy these two grounds have. The Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya has had flack from F1 fans for years for not producing great races (and rightly so), but lets not forget all the great races we have had there before. 1996, the only wet race there ever, being Michael Schumacher’s first win in the scarlet red of Ferrari, 2012 seeing Pastor Maldonado win in what is still Williams’ latest win to date and of course, 2016, Max Verstappen being the youngest grand prix winner ever as both Mercedes took each other out of the race on the first lap. It has gotten a little stale over the years as it became the camping ground for pre-season testing, and even I had fears when booking this trip that this race might be underwhelming. Firstly, it wasn’t, I enjoyed the race, and the whole weekend. Great weather, facilities, support races, all less than an hour away from Barcelona makes it a great place to go.

Zandvoort has only re-emerged onto the calendar for a few years now, but re-emerged it has been. Max Verstappen easily has the most passionate fanbase of any F1 driver in the history of the sport, and they finally have a place at home to cheer him on. If you are looking for great atmosphere, Zandvoort has it in spades, and whilst the races are great, they sometimes come 2^nd place to the party vibes the circuit entails.

You can’t go wrong with either choice, but for me, go Zandvoort. Go to the Dutch Grand Prix even if you are not a big Max fan, as I am certain you will be a fan of the shenanigans that go on there. Just make sure to book an extra week off to recover!