[1] After the war some of these roads were widened and linked together and a racing circuit was designed, not as legend has it by John Hugenholtz, but rather by a group of officials from the Royal Dutch Motorcycle Association, with advice from Bentley Boy Sammy Davis, who had won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1927.

1959 saw Swede Jo Bonnier win his only Formula One championship event and 1960 saw Dan Gurney have an accident and a spectator was killed; the race was won by Jack Brabham in a Cooper.

From 1963 to 1965 saw Briton Jim Clark win all three events, and 1967 saw the introduction of the Lotus 49 with its brand new Ford-Cosworth DFV engine.

However, tragedy struck during the race: Briton Piers Courage, driving for Frank Williams, crashed heavily near the notoriously fast Tunnel Oost corner after a wheel came off and hit him on the head, which killed him.

The 1971 event saw Jacky Ickx win in a Ferrari after a spirited battle with Mexican Pedro Rodriguez in a BRM in rain-soaked conditions.

In a race that was thought to be one of the most well organized Grands Prix yet seen, it was actually disorganization and a total lack of clear communication that would be ultimately responsible for what was to happen.

Williamson's countryman David Purley stopped alongside, crossed the track and ran over to the burning March.

The race was won by Tyrrell driver Jackie Stewart (who broke Jim Clark's record for the most career Grand Prix victories that weekend) and his teammate François Cevert finished 2nd; but no one felt like celebrating; it was one of the darkest moments in the history of the sport.

Canadian Gilles Villeneuve had crashed there while battling ferociously with Australian Alan Jones and damaged his left-rear suspension.

Refusing to give up, Villeneuve, to the shock of many, went into reverse gear and drove his Ferrari out of the muddy run-off area and back onto the circuit.

Villeneuve, displaying his now legendary car control, made it back to the pits without crashing or going off and retired from the race; the Grand Prix was won by Jones.

The 1982 event was won by Frenchman Didier Pironi in a Ferrari; his countryman René Arnoux had a dreadful crash at the end of the pit straight going into Tarzan; his front suspension failed on his ground-effect Renault and he went head on into the barriers; fortunately he was uninjured.

In 1985, Lauda took his 25th and final Grand Prix victory while holding off his charging McLaren teammate Prost near the end of the race.

After that, the Grand Prix would not be part of the calendar anymore, since the local promoter decided not to seek a contract extension beyond 2026.