Africa’s Long Absence from the F1 Calendar
The drought, which has lasted over 30 years, is about to end. Not only because Stefano Domenicali has made a personal commitment to Lewis Hamilton, promising to bring F1 back to Africa before the end of his career, but also because interest in the continent—and the willingness of some countries to invest in hosting a GP—has grown significantly in recent times. The race is a true head-to-head: on one side, there’s the tried-and-tested South African Grand Prix, dreaming of a street circuit in Cape Town but already prepared with the renovated and upgraded Kyalami track, where the last African F1 race took place in 1993. On the other side, there’s the intriguing prospect of Rwanda and its capital Kigali, which hosted the FIA’s end-of-year awards ceremony last December.
Rwanda vs South Africa: A Head-to-Head Battle
Rwanda appears to be in pole position to end the more than three-decade absence of F1 in Africa. This was confirmed by Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula One Group, in an interview with *Autosprint*: “We are committed to finding a solution in Africa, as the F1 calendar lacks a stop on that continent. Currently, the most advanced discussions are with Rwanda, but South Africa has re-emerged in the conversation. For now, the more in-depth discussions have been with Rwanda, although this is not a short-term prospect.”
Why Rwanda Has the Advantage
The strong push comes from the Rwandan government, led by President Paul Kagame, who traveled to Singapore last September to support the bid with Liberty Media. The country is heavily investing in promoting its image through sports and, in 2025, will host the Road Cycling World Championships after organizing the FIA awards ceremony in December 2024.
The idea is to build a permanent circuit in Kigali, but it’s clear that such a project would take considerable time. This timeline would likely be longer than South Africa’s, which already has the Kyalami circuit, located about 30 kilometers from Johannesburg and Pretoria. Notably, South African Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie recently spoke openly about targeting entry into the calendar in 2026 or, at the latest, 2027.
F1 Calendar Strategy: Stefano Domenicali’s Approach
“On one hand,” Stefano Domenicali added, speaking more broadly about Liberty Media’s F1 calendar strategy, “we want to encourage circuits with long-term contracts to invest in the quality of their events. On the other hand, there are many countries wanting to join, but we need to find slots for them. We’ll have Madrid in 2026, which will have continuity and won’t alternate with Barcelona. However, Barcelona still wants to remain. We’re also working on a solution for them (potentially a rotation with other tracks like Imola and Spa).”
“There are many moving parts,” the 59-year-old from Imola concluded, “and finalizing the calendar is the most complicated thing of all. But these are all positive situations—they’re opportunities, not problems. We’re in contact with Thailand, South Korea, Turkey, and now also Argentina, which has returned to push following Franco Colapinto’s debut. But there are 24 GPs, and everyone wants to stay and invest.”
The changes to the calendar in the coming years may not be limited to the return of an F1 Grand Prix in Africa…
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