The battle to host F1’s African GP commences – For Formula One to claim it is a truly global sport many paddock observers believe it must soon hold a Grand Prix weekend on the continent of Africa. There was much talk last. Year of reviving the event once held in South Africa, although trouble with the promoter saw the Rainbow Nation’s government pull out of the deal.

Africa has a rich history of motorsport with rallying leading the way, but road racing began back in South Africa as early as in 1934, when the country hosted its first ever Grand Prix on the Prince George Circuit in Cape Province which attracted the top European drivers at the time including Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard “Dick” Seaman and the 1939 winner Luigi Villoresi.

As was the case across Europe, world war II halted racing in South Africa only for it to return in 1960 as part of the Formula One schedule but as a non-championship event. The original Prince George Circuit was held over 24 kilometres of public roads, was shortened for F1’s return retaining its name but offering a new permanent circuit.

 

 

 

Apartheid killed the S> African GP

As the apartheid regime in South Africa became regular world news, a number of the drivers in 1985 came out against racing in South Africa. These included Alain Prost, Niki Lauda and Nigel Mansell. Ayrton Senna initially claimed he would not race in the country but later admitted if lotus were there his contract demanded he race.

A number of governments attempted to prevent their drivers from racing in Kyalami that year and Brazilian sanctions on South Africa almost prevented Nelson Piquet and Senna from doing so. Multiple sponsors demanded the teams remove their branding from the cars most noticeably tobacco giant Marlboro and Beatrice Foods.

The race returned briefly after the fall of the apartheid regime which saw Nigel Mansell dominate the 1992 event. Prost’s victory the following season was to be the last as the circuit had been sold and the new owners deemed F1 too costly. A quarter of a century later in 2018 “The South African” was the first to raise the idea of the country hosting another F1 event. A deal to return to a modified Kyalami was said to be close last year but promoter greed was blamed for its collapse although there are those who yet believe an F1 return is possible.

Today the countries sports minister Gayton McKenzie is quoted by SuperSport as saying: “The race is going to happen at Kyalami,” McKenzie added. “Kyalami is doing what they need to do. [Circuit bosses] Toby Venter and Willie Venter and are doing a great job bringing Kyalami to F1 standards. They have put money in there, it is there.”

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Yet its unclear whether the FIA would give the go ahead for such an event, given the South African’s support for Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.

Co-incidentally also today, Rwanda who are hosting this year’s FIA Gala event have announced a bid to join the Formula One calendar.  The country’s president Paul Kagame who is attending the evening in the capital Kigali revealed: “I am happy to formally announce that Rwanda is bidding to bring the thrill of racing back to Africa, by hosting a Formula 1 grand prix.

“A big thank you to [F1 president] Stefano Domenicali and the entire team at F1 for the good progress in our discussions so far. I assure you we are approaching this opportunity with the seriousness and commitment it deserves,” he concluded.

The Rwanda scheme has been in the pipeline for a number of years now, with F1 revealing a proposed layout image last year which would see the cars race 45 laps around a new purpose built 5.63km venue. This will be close the the new Bugesera airport under construction and the design has been developed by the chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, Alex Wurz.

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GPDA president to design Rwanda circuit

Wurz has been working on the project for over a year gathering a team around him to deal with local advisors, businesses and the local authorities. It will be a fast flowing track and unlike Austin Texas which was originally a flat swamp, the natural hilly topography as being blended into the design with a lake featuring as part of the setting.

Wurz is also designing the replacement for the street race now held in Jeddah. The Saudi’s claim their new track in Qiddiya will be the longest and fastest formula One venue in the world. Grand plans have been revealed for a Manga style theme park feel to the venue but the show stopping feature is the Blade turn, which rises some 230 feet into the air – they height of a 20 story building.

With South Africa on the back foot with their proposals for an F1 return to the continent, it feels as though Rwanda plans to host its first race in 2029 now puts them in the lead of that race. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem met with Rwanda’s Sports Minister Richard Nyirishema at the general assembly meeting.

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FIA president says “shared values” with Rwanda

The president of the FIA said: “To be here in Rwanda for such an important moment in the FIA’s calendar is a testament to the strength of this nation, in particular its growing influence in motorsport.

“We are aligned on our values and shared goals across key sectors such as innovation, sustainability, and road safety, and I look forward to our continued partnership. The future of motorsport in Africa is bright.”

As an aside, Rwanda was set to be the destination for the last British governments asylum registration scheme, though this was ditched by the incoming Labour Party who claimed the country is not a safe place for refugees to be sent.

Let’s hope its safe enough for F1. But in a sport where the dollar is king, such matters will be easily ‘overcome’ as the race to return to Africa now commences.

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Red Bull Racing appear to be at sixes and sevens over their driver lineup and having axed two drivers last year and this mid-season, the uncertainty over who should partner Max Verstappen appears confused.

Yuki Tsunoda had his best of his four years for the sister team in 2024 although he claimed the arrival of Daniel Ricciardo at the start of the campaign had an impact on how he went about racing. “It felt very important,” Tsunoda revealed. “Starting from last year, [in the] second half of the season, Red Bull – Helmut [Marko], Christian [Horner] – wanted me to calm myself down a little bit and focus on feedback, and to be a more complete driver.

“Daniel [Ricciardo] came into the team, and Daniel is very, very good at those things, especially the feedback and radio communications.”… READ MORE