Adding a Formula 1 event in Africa, where the sport has not hosted a race since the last Kyalami F1 Grand Prix back in 1993, has emerged as the next main priority for Formula 1, which is likely to return to Kyalami for a revival of the South African Grand Prix. During the last five years with Liberty Media in charge of the championship, we have seen several new tracks and old races return on the Formula 1 calendar.
Venues such as Zandvoort and Imola have returned while two high-paying Middle East races in Qatar and Saudi Arabia and glamorous American additions in Miami and Las Vegas have been included on the calendar. Now that Formula 1 has concluded its expansion in those territories, most importantly in the US, the next step is to focus on a possible return to South Africa starting with the 2024 Formula 1 championship.
At the same time, Kyalami has to be upgraded to FIA Grade 1 status in order to be able to secure the move and complete a full circle for a former grand prix venue that fell into disrepair not long ago. Despite the fact that Kyalami hosted other international motorsport across during the last two decedes after Formula 1 no longer visited the venue, the quality of the circuit has deteriorated.
Porsche South Africa CEO Toby Venter bought the track eight years ago and since that moment the circuit has been redesigned, including an extended start-finish straight, while also keeping asequence of the original layout from the fast right-hander of Sunset to the Esses.
Kyalami was first redeveloped to FIA Grade 2 standard because a grand prix was not the end goal, even though circuit bosses were open to the idea. Extra run-off and an investment TecPro barriers were considered the main requirements to get Grade 1 certification.
Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali has confirmed his intention to add a grand prix on the African continent on multiple occasions in recent months.
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“On top of America, on top of China, I think there is a potential also to be in Africa soon,” Stefano Domenicali said in a recent interview for Sky Sports F1 a few weeks ago – “There is a lot of interest there. For sure that’s another area that so far is missing in the geography of our calendar.” – he added.
According to other reports, another race in China, alongside the current Formula 1 race in Shanghai, had been discussed for as early as 2023. But at this stage, even getting Shanghai back on the calendar seems to be a difficult task given the fact that the country is still affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is also why a Kyalami deal now looks more likely to be the next major Formula 1 calendar announcement.
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