An African Grand Prix is the only one not represented in the Formula 1 World Championship currently. The continent has not featured in the F1 calendar in 31 years, since 1993. But now two clear contenders are emerging for a lucrative deal with F1’s controllers Liberty Media to race once again on the continent.
They are the world-class facility at Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, having last hosted the South African Grand Prix at the end of apartheid. And then there’s the somewhat surprising emergence of Rwanda. The central-east African nation’s project appears to be strongly backed by F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali as well as the FIA. So much so that they are organising a 2024 end-of-season prize-giving there.
AFRICAN GRAND PRIX
“Potentially Rwanda is on the cards, which is amazing. I just hope it comes in before I’m gone from the sport. That is my biggest dream – to make sure I get to race on African soil before I retire,” said Lewis Hamilton ahead of this weekend’s Brazilian GP.
However, organisers of a potential F1 return to Kyalami revealed on Thursday 31 October 2024 that their plans are gathering pace. This was prefaced by South African sports minister Gayton McKenzie on social media platform X, who posted: “I wanna thank the owners of Kyalami race track for the investment to upgrade the track to F1 requirements. I wanna thank the APEX group for their expertise. And thank you Gauteng’s Premier Lesufi for assisting greatly. I love seeing a plan getting together. F1 is coming home soon. GNU.”
FIA GRADE 1 ACCREDITATION
The sports minister met with Domenicali just last month. Both he and the F1 supremo said they had an ‘extremely good meeting’ with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem at the Azerbaijan GP in Baku. Moreover, Kyalami owners declared this week that the circuit is working hard to restore full F1-ready FIA Grade 1 accreditation at the venue.
Circuit officials said in a media statement: “Whilst negotiations with various players, including Liberty Media, continue tirelessly behind the scenes, South Africans can rest assured that there will be a suitable home for the return of Formula 1 in the future.” Separately, a Kyalami spokesman told the media that R177 million was going into the upgrades. And the track could be F1-race ready by as soon as 2026/2027. – with GMM
WOULD YOU LIKE TO KYALAMI BACK ON THE F1 CALENDAR?
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