Meet the Orange Army DJ for 'icon' Verstappen

The Dutch Grand Prix starts at 14:00 BST on Sunday

The Formula 1 summer break is over and Max Verstappen's 'Orange Army' is ready to party at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort this weekend.

And what does any good social gathering need? Decent music.

Enter DJ Admin, real name Rick Jansen, who is the man tasked with keeping the fanatical orange-clad crowd in the dedicated grandstands entertained during a race weekend.

"Verstappen is an icon," Dutchman Jansen tells BBC Sport.

"He's our first F1 grand prix winner and the first Dutch F1 world champion, so a lot of people treat him like a god, and I don't think he's very comfortable with that because he sees himself, I think, as just a normal human being."

Scenes of jubilation and orange plumes of flare smoke have followed Red Bull driver Verstappen ever since he emerged as a generational talent 10 years ago.

Today, the four-time world champion has his own grandstands at four grands prix - Austria, Belgium, Hungary and Zandvoort, the coastal town west of Amsterdam.

However, his home race, which returned in 2021 after a 36-year hiatus, is beginning its last hurrah; after the 2026 event, Zandvoort will no longer feature on the calendar. Will Verstappen, then, get a chance to sample the madness of the grandstands for himself?

"He's very, very chill about it but I cannot see him joining the party," says Jansen.

"He's more of a down to earth guy and, even if he went undercover, I think he would be more in the main grandstand.”

Speaking during Thursday’s news conference, Verstappen said of his devoted Zandvoort fans: “It brings a smile on my face, seeing that amount of orange is very special.

“It's not only about the driving, there is quite a bit of a party going on across these three days - unfortunately not for me. But [the fans] seem to have a great time.”

Jansen began his F1 journey in 2014, DJing for a youth grandstand at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. But it was the rise of Verstappen, his devoted fanbase, plus US firm Liberty Media's takeover of the sport's commercial arm in 2016, that made circuits across the calendar sit up and take notice of the festival atmosphere Jansen's DJ sets could provide.

"I went to Austria and I didn't have any clue what to expect," Jansen says of his first experience performing for the Orange Army at the Red Bull Ring.

"There were, like, 14,000 pretty much drunk Orange fans having a party already, and the organisers said, 'you have 15 minutes to prepare, and then you can just do whatever you like'."

Jansen, who has been a fan of F1 since 1994, has seen the difference Liberty Media has made to the sport compared with previous boss Bernie Ecclestone. "With Bernie, it was very straight to the point," he says.

Footage from the football-like atmosphere in Spielberg went viral and soon other tracks wanted a slice of the orange pie. Jansen is due to perform at 16 of the 24 races in 2025, whether that be at the Verstappen grandstands or other events during an F1 weekend.

Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline works for a broader F1 crowd, while Freed From Desire by Gala (UA) is a favourite of the Dutch contingent, Jansen says.

He has to proceed with caution, though, if he plays the 1997 dance hit when the two groups collide, as Dutch fans' love of changing lyrics can get him in trouble with circuit organisers.

"When we play Freed From Desire in Holland, the Dutch will say, 'trek je shirt uit en zwaai', which loosely translates to 'take your shirt off and wave', and F1 will say, 'well, don't do that'. But if I play it, all that the Dutch fans hear is, 'get your shirt off and wave it like a helicopter!'"

'Leclerc messaged asking for song titles'

DJ Admin, Rick Jansen, has been the Orange DJ for every F1 race held at Zandvoort since 2021

At July's Belgian Grand Prix, Jansen was given the "dream" opportunity to DJ on the grid for the very first time before the sprint race after somebody else dropped out. His usual set, heavily influenced by the wants of the Orange Army, went out of the window.

"It's completely different. We have to play, really, for the VIPs and for the drivers, so it cannot be too loud, it cannot be too hyped up, so it's very commercial and a little bit less tempo," he says.

While the tunes might be easier on the ears, the drivers do take notice of what Jansen is playing. After performing on the grid at the following race in Hungary before the summer shutdown, Jansen received a private message.

"It was Charles Leclerc, asking, 'I heard you play these two tracks, but I cannot find them, can you send them to me?' And he was on pole position, so he was closest to me and heard the music. It was cool."

Zandvoort will be another packed weekend for Jansen, but what do the fans make of its impending departure from F1? "Well, we see with the Orange Army, a kind of a decrease with the people," he says.

And not just at Zandvoort. Jansen highlights the rise in tickets prices as a factor for the Verstappen stands at the Red Bull Ring not selling out this year. There is also an issue, as time goes by, with where the grandstands are located at each track.

"They get the same spot every year," says Jansen.

"If you're just a general F1 fan, you can go to the main grandstand one year, and then you go to Turn Four, and so on. But the Max stands, people are always in the same spot - and it's not always the best spot at the track.

"So, a lot of people are questioning, 'OK, why should I go, three or four years in a row to see the same kind of action?'"

Max Verstappen has won three of the four F1 races in Zandvoort since 2021, with Lando Norris victorious in 2024