ZANDVOORT.- The seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton gave his “100%” support on Thursday to a return of the Formula 1 to Africa, at a time when there is talk of a possible Grand Prix in Rwanda.
“Why aren’t we on that continent?” Hamilton wondered.
“It’s time, 100% (…) We cannot add races elsewhere and continue to ignore Africa,” he said.
“I think having a Grand Prix there will show how great the place is and can help bring tourism and good things,” he said.
Africa has not hosted an F1 Grand Prix since South Africa in 1993 but the championship’s chief executive Stefano Domenicali is due to meet representatives from Rwanda next month who have made a “serious” proposal.
“We want to go to Africa, but we need the required investment and a proper strategic plan,” Domenicali told Motorsport.com.
“(The Rwandans) have presented a good project on a permanent circuit and we have set a date to talk with them at the end of September,” he said.
Contacted by AFP, Formula 1 confirmed that negotiations are underway with Rwanda.
Morocco was the first African country to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix, in 1958 in Ain Diab, near Casablanca. An experience that the Maghreb kingdom never repeated.
South Africa has hosted 23 F1 Grands Prix, the first three between 1962 and 1965 in East London (east coast) and the next 20, between 1967 and 1993, at the Kyalami circuit, near Johannesburg.
Growth through sport
Rwanda, a country of 13 million people whose history is marked by the tragedy of the 1994 genocide, has invested heavily in sport in recent years. It has signed sponsorship agreements with football clubs Arsenal (England) and Paris Saint-Germain (France), which both displayed “Visit Rwanda” on their shirts.
The small African country also won the title of host of the 2025 World Road Cycling Championships.
President Paul Kagame sees the investments as a way to diversify the economy and boost the country’s international standing, while critics say the spending is mostly a distraction from NGOs who regularly accuse him of silencing the opposition.
