Bosses at Zandvoort circuit are hopeful that the Dutch Grand Prix can become a permanent fixture on the calendar after the current contract runs out in 2025.

The race was reinstated in 2021 after a 38-year absence and has been won each year by home favourite Max Verstappen, cheered on by a capacity crowd dressed overwhelmingly in orange.

Officially all options are on the table, including removing the race from the schedule after 2025 or alternating it with the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. The two races are currently held on successive weekends.

But senior F1 figures are keen to keep the Zandvoort race, which has been both a commercial success and a flagship for the sport’s efforts to create a more environmentally-friendly image.

The vast majority of the 300,000 spectators that bought tickets for the Grand Prix weekend in September arrived by bike, bus or train. Zandvoort council has banned non-residents’ cars from the town over the three days, partly because there are only two access roads through the dunes.

Environmental campaigners tried unsuccessfully to have the race blocked by the courts because of the dangers it posed to local wildlife, but judges ruled that the exemption granted by the council was justified in the public interest.

Race director Robert van Overdijk, who was in Austin at the weekend for talks with the sport’s leaders, said he had received positive signs about the future of the race.

“It’s obviously very flattering for us that the Formula 1 management is so positive about us, and it says something about our status at the moment,” he told the Telegraaf. “At the same time it remains a very difficult puzzle.”