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Fans could see a Grand Prix in Africa soon. F1's Global Director of Race Promotion, Chloe Targett-Adams confirmed Africa is at the top of the wish-list for the series. The last time the continent hosted a round of the world championship was in 1993 at Kyalami.
Lewis Hamilton, seven-time F1 world champion, said last year that Africa is “such an important place” for an F1 return. Former Chief Executive of F1, Bernie Ecclestone, also campaigned to return to South Africa.
“I completely agree with Lewis,” Targett-Adams stated at the BlacBook Motorsport Virtual Summit. "Africa is a continent that we don’t race in and that is just wrong."
“It’s somewhere that we very much want to. It is a priority. We’ve been in talks with possible options for a few years and we’re hoping that ultimately we will be able to achieve a race there in the near to mid-term.”
African promoters show interest
Formula 1 planned to hold a Fan Festival in Johannesburg last March, but unfortunately, it was canceled because of COVID-19. Current F1 president and CEO, Stefano Domenicali, confirmed that interest had been expressed from promoters in both “North Africa (and) South Africa”.
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Morocco has also made a case for itself. The North African country last hosted an F1 race in 1958. It more recently held Formula E and World Touring Car Championship races in Marrakesh.
Race promoter SAGP has expressed a strong desire to reinstate a date at Kyalami. Warren Scheckter, CEO of the SAGP corporation, said the former home of the South African Grand Prix was the “most logical place” for F1.
“It’s great that Lewis, a person as high-profile and influential as himself, has indicated his support for an African Grand Prix,” mentioned Scheckter. He also said:
“Obviously South Africa is the most likely place for that to happen being that it’s a country that has a huge history in Formula 1. It had its own Formula 1 racing series back in the seventies, had a Formula 1 world champion itself and as a country it has quite a big following."
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“Most importantly it has a race track that’s really ready to go, that’s very close to being F1-standard. If there were to be an African Grand Prix, South Africa and Kyalami is the most logical place that it would happen.
A target date has been set for 2022, but according to Scheckter "2023 is maybe more likely" because of the effects of the pandemic.
A Grand Prix in Africa is sure to bring an enormous boost towards Formula 1's #WeRaceAsOne initiative for diversity and acceptance in the sport.
