Rwanda on course to host F1 race as historic grand prix deal for Africa looms

Rwanda looks set to pip South Africa to the post as Formula 1 nears a permanent return to Africa.

F1 has not raced in Africa – the only habitable continent not currently on the calendar – since the 1993 South African Grand Prix, at the Kyalami Circuit outside Johannesburg.

Kyalami and Cape Town have expressed an interest in returning to the schedule, but Rwanda looks to have beaten them to the punch, with plans in motion to build a permanent facility 40 kilometres outside the capital of Kigali.

The Independent understands that conversations between Rwanda and F1 stakeholders are ongoing and an announcement is expected soon. Various reports suggest a race in Rwanda would not come before 2030.

Lewis Hamilton, whose father Anthony is of Afro-Grenadian descent, has previously voiced his backing for an F1 race in Africa. Hamilton has spent past summer breaks travelling in Africa, and previously described Rwanda as “particularly stunning” and a “place I felt like I could live.”

“I’ve had the privilege… I’ve been to 10 countries now in Africa,” he said at the Australian Grand Prix in March. “There’s still so much more for me to see.

“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? There’s one on every other continent, why not Africa?’

“I know they’re really trying.”

In the same impassioned speech, Hamilton also implored the people of Africa to “take back” their continent as he spoke of his adoration for Africa and its people.

F1 boss Stefano Domenicali has also previously insisted that the sport is eyeing a return to the African continent, despite the packed 24-race calendar set for 2027, which includes the return of Portugal and Turkey to the schedule.

Rwanda has previously hosted the FIA prize-giving gala, in 2024, when president Paul Kagame used his speech to announce the east African country’s intention to bid for a grand prix.

As well as Rwanda, South Africa (Kyalami and Cape Town), Morocco and Nigeria have also expressed interest in hosting an F1 race.

Other worldwide locations keen to join the calendar include South Korea, India, Thailand, Argentina and Malaysia, after their successful one-off hosting of the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang on Sunday.