Lewis Hamilton is promising not to retire until Formula 1 ends its ongoing 33-year hiatus from Africa with the seven-time world champion continuously campaigning for a return.
F1 has not raced on the continent since the 1993 South African Grand Prix, as the event subsequently dropped off the calendar due to the new Kyalami owners wanting to run the facility at a profit.
It therefore ended 26 on-and-off years that saw the championship visit the Johannesburg venue, and South Africa, plus Morocco (1958), are the only African countries to have hosted a grand prix.
What makes the matter more contentious is that amid an ever-growing F1 calendar, now at a record 24 rounds, the series visits every inhabitant continent except Africa, and it is still unclear when the situation will change.
Hamilton, 41, said: “I don’t want to leave the sport without having a grand prix there, without getting to race there. I’m chasing them: when is it going to be? They’re setting certain dates and I’m like ‘damn, I’m running out of time’.
“So I’m going to be here for a while until that happens, because that would be amazing, given that I’m half African.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Kym Illman / Getty Images
“I’ve got family roots from a few different places there, like Togo and Benin – I went to visit Benin last year – Senegal and Nigeria and so it’s something I’m really proud of, that part of the world, I think it’s the most beautiful part of the world.”
The Briton added that he has been pushing for F1 to return to Africa for a long time now, but the sticking point is which country could actually join the calendar – considering all the financial requirements plus needing a circuit which is FIA grade 1.
South Africa is the obvious standout and talks of its return have been ongoing. Those talks were perhaps at their strongest for 2024 when the country was hoping to join, but that broke down following accusations that it had been supplying arms to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
Speculation returned midway through 2025 when Kyalami’s plans to upgrade to FIA grade 1 within three years had been approved. However, despite being hailed as a “defining moment”, its official return is still in the early phases after a messy bidding process against a potential Cape Town Grand Prix.
The other option could be Rwanda, whose government officials met with F1 bosses in 2024 and formally announced a bid, but those protracted talks have since died down. Early 2025 even saw the Democratic Republic of Congo warn F1 against the idea of visiting Rwanda, due to conflict in the region.
Hamilton added: “For the past six years, I think, maybe seven, I’ve been fighting in the background to get a grand prix – it might be longer than that actually.
Cape Town GP layout
Photo by: Tilke GmbH
“So, sitting with the stakeholders and asking them the question, why are we not in Africa? We’re on every other continent, why not Africa? I know they’re really trying, I think they’ve been to quite a few different countries.
“The ones that I’ve enjoyed [visiting] the most so far, I loved Kenya, don’t think we’re going to have a grand prix in Kenya, but Rwanda particularly was spectacular – two places I felt like I could live. And South Africa. I think those are the ones that I think would be good places for us to potentially go to.”
This topic actually came up last month as well in a media roundtable with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, when he was asked about new countries joining the calendar – not just those in Africa.
“If this will be the case, it will not be in the short term because the need of building something from zero requires the right time,” said the Italian. “So I would say these things can happen after 2029, because we have other expirations of contracts, so there is an evolving situation.
“It’s very positive because we have a quality problem, we can make a decision on where we want to go. Of course keeping the focus on making sure that we find the right decision because we don’t want to expand the number. So we need to work on it, but I don’t see this happening before 2029.”
Although F1 doesn’t currently have an African round, the continent is still present in wider motorsport: Safari Rally Kenya is a historic event in the World Rally Championship, while Formula E held a Cape Town race in 2023.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Team
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
