South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend an F1 Grand Prix event later this year as the government continues its lobbying campaign to host Africa’s first F1 race in over 30 years.
While Ramaphosa has yet to confirm which event he will attend, sports minister Gayton McKenzie said the president will be joining him on a “working visit” to one of the races.
“His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa has agreed to join me at a Formula One Grand Prix later this year. This is a working visit, not a social one,” McKenzie said.
“The President’s visit will allow us to observe, engage and strengthen our case. I will provide further details on the timing and the specific Grand Prix in due course, in coordination with the Presidency.”
Kyalami in pole position?
South Africa is bidding to host a Grand Prix for the first time since 1993, when it hosted a race at the Kyalami circuit at Midrand, just north of Johannesburg. McKenzie says the government is working hard to convince Formula One Management (FOM) that it can host a successful event.
“There are criteria that any country must meet to host a Grand Prix – commercial, logistical, infrastructural and safety requirements – and we are working methodically to meet each of them,” McKenzie said.
However, South Africa faces competition from Rwanda – which launched its bid for a race in December 2024 and plans a permanent circuit near the planned Bugesera airport close to Kigali – and Morocco, which is reported to be planning a circuit near Tangier.
Kyalami managers said last year that plans to upgrade its facility to Grade 1 status have been approved by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the governing body of motorsports, which would make it eligible to host Formula 1 races once the necessary works are complete. The plans, produced in collaboration with the UK’s Apex Circuit Design, would grant Kyalami a three-year window to complete construction.
“Apex worked closely with the FIA and circuit stakeholders to produce a “light-touch” engineering solution that preserved Kyalami’s celebrated 4.52 km layout while introducing the safety, infrastructure,and operational upgrades required to meet the highest international standards.
“The scope of work included the design of extended run-off zones, new debris fencing, upgraded barriers, kerb modifications, and drainage improvements. These interventions were carefully balanced to minimise disruption to existing activities while future-proofing the facility,” Apex said.
Last May, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali confirmed that the sport wants to return to Africa but warned that it might be some way off.
“We cannot go to a new place… without staying for a long time. We are progressing our discussion with I would say three places in Africa. Realistically speaking, I don’t think we’re going to have an outcome in the very short term.”
Champion’s blessing
Africa’s bid to host a race has been enthuasiastically backed by British seven-times F1 drivers’ champion Lewis Hamilton.
“For the past six years, maybe seven, I’ve been fighting in the background to get a Grand Prix … sitting with stakeholders and asking the question: ‘Why are we not in Africa?’,” he said in May.
“I don’t want to leave the sport without having a Grand Prix there, without getting to race there, so I’m chasing them. They’re setting certain dates, I’m like: ‘Damn, I could be running out of time’, so I’m going to be here for a while until that happens. That would be amazing, given that I’m half African. There’s one on every other continent, why not Africa? I know they’re really trying.”
McKenzie expressed similar sentiments.
“[Having no African Grand Prix] is not acceptable, and it is not sustainable. An entire generation of young African motorsport enthusiasts has never seen a Formula One race in their own backyard. We intend to change that.”