Formula One considers Africa's return to the Formula One schedule
Formula One's President and CEO Stefano Domenicali has revealed that Africa could return to the F1 schedule with Rwanda having emerged as a “serious” option to host a future Grand Prix.
Africa has not had a Formula One race since 1993, a season in which the series managed to race on six continents. In the past two years, there have been rumours that the Kyalami Circuit might find its way back to the F1 schedule, but those efforts proved unsuccessful.
However, Formula One's CEO and President Stefano Domenicali has now revealed in a talk with Motorsport.com that the sport is still intent on adding a race to the F1 calendar in Africa.
So serious are the effort of the representatives of the Rwanda Development Board that they attended the Monaco Grand Prix to meet with the International Automobile Federation (FIA). Moreover, Rwanda will host the FIA’s annual general assembly and prize giving ceremony in its capital, Kigali, in December.
Speaking to the respected journalist Jonathan Noble, Domenicali said: “[Rwanda] are serious. They have presented a good plan and actually we have a meeting with them at the end of September. It will be on a permanent track.”
“We want to go to Africa, but we need to have the right investment, and the right strategic plan. We need to have the right moment, and we need to make sure that also in that country, in that region, in that continent, there is the right welcoming, because, of course, they have other priorities. We need to be always very careful in making the right choices.”
Domenicali has also confirmed that many countries are interested in hosting an F1 race. The increasing popularity of the series means that while certain countries are stable, Formula One will discuss about the future of several races to come up with the best schedule.
“Up until 2020 we were in a situation where the number of places that wanted to host F1 were not so numerous. Therefore we were not able to apply what I would say was a constructive pressure to grow what we can offer to our customers and to our fans.
“Now, we are on the other side. We have so many places around the world that want to host F1 that it allows us to make sure that we are working together with all of them to grow the experience.
“With 24 races, I see that there’s a number that will be stable, and we can really tune the ones that we are discussing to see what will be the future in the middle term.
“I don’t see big changes coming in the short term, but in the next couple of months we need to discuss what will be ’26, ’27 and ’28. We have different options but we are in a good place," Domenicali told Motorsport.com.
