East African country announces formal bid to host F1 races as Lewis Hamilton’s dream to race in the continent moves closer

The South African Grand Prix was a part of the F1 calendar until 1993. After over three decades, the pinnacle of open-wheel racing could make its comeback to the continent.

The first-ever South African GP was held in 1934 at the historic Prince George Circuit. F1 continued racing on the African continent until 1993 (in East London till 1966 and on the Kyalami circuit from 1967 to 1993).

F1's CEO Stefano Domenicali has been in negotiations with the government of Rwanda in the past few years to bring the series back to Africa. These efforts to bring back the race have been supported by the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton as well.

As a result of the negotiations, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame disclosed the plans to go ahead with bringing a race to the country during the recent FIA General Assembly meeting.

"I'm happy to formally announce that Rwanda is bidding to bring the thrill of racing back to Africa by hosting Formula 1 Grand Prix. A big thank you to Stefano Domenicali and the entire team at Formula 1 for the good progress in our discussions so far. I assure you that we are approaching this opportunity with the seriousness and commitment which it deserves," he said.

Here's a look at the X post on the official Presidency page of Rwanda:

Apart from the aforementioned post, the news of the return of the African GP was also shared by Autosport on X. Take a look at the post, captioned:

"Breaking: Rwanda has formally announced its bid to hold a F1 race at a new track close to the planned Bugesera airport near Kigali"

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"It’s going to happen. It’s coming here" - South African sports minister Gayton McKenzie on the return of the South African Grand Prix in 2027

The government of Rwanda disclosed its support for the return of the African Grand Prix on the Formula 1 calendar during the FIA General Assembly meeting.

In an interview with the digital publication SuperSport, South African sports minister Gayton McKenzie also spoke about the plans to bring back the South African Grand Prix to Kyalami by 2027.

"Where we are at the moment, and it’s the first time people hear this, we are going to announce a committee next week. The committee will then choose which promoter will promote F1, it’s going to happen. The race is going to happen at Kyalami."

"Kyalami is doing what they need to do. (Circuit bosses) Toby Venter and Willie Venter and are doing a great job bringing Kyalami to F1 standards. They have put money in there, it is there. They have met with Apex, that is doing the track to bring it to F1 standards. We are making sure that we are going to host, so I think we looking at 2027. We were there, it’s going to happen. It’s coming here," McKenzie added.

With the Dutch Grand Prix scheduled to exit the calendar in 2026, the inclusion of an African race in 2027 could be advantageous for Formula 1.