Africa remains one of the few untapped markets for Formula 1 in its recent years of global expansion. In fact, an F1 race has not been held on the continent since the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami.
Motorsport officials have scheduled talks with Rwandan officials for September to discuss the country's bid to host an F1 event.
Amid Rwanda's push to make history as the first East African country to host the event, Hamilton believes it is the right time for a race to return to Africa. He made these remarks ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, scheduled for Sunday, August 25, 2024.
'We can't be adding races in other locations and continue to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world just takes from,' Hamilton stated.
'No one gives anything to Africa. There's a huge amount of work that needs to be done there. I think a lot of the world that haven't been there don't realise how beautiful the place is, how vast it is,' he added.
The 39-year-old Mercedes driver dismissed the excuse that there are no ready tracks, stating that F1 can utilize and build on what is available. He also noted that Africa stands to benefit immensely from tourism during and after the races.
'I think having a grand prix there, it would really be able to highlight just how great the place is and bring in tourism and all sorts of things. Why are we not on that continent? And the current excuse is that there's not a track that's ready, but there is at least one track that's ready there.
'In the short term, we should just get on that track and have that part of the calendar and then work on building out something moving forward,' he explained.
He lauded Rwanda's interest in hosting an F1 event saying, 'Rwanda is one of my favourite places I've been to actually'.
'I've been doing a lot of work in the background. I've spoken to people in Rwanda, I've spoken to people in South Africa. But that's a longer project, Rwanda. It's amazing that they're so keen,' he added.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali confirmed the meeting with Rwandan officials earlier this. He described Rwanda as a 'serious' candidate for hosting a future Grand Prix and praised the Rwandan authorities for presenting a solid plan.
'They are serious,' said Domenicali. '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.'
Domenicali's comments followed a visit by representatives from the Rwanda Development Board to the Monaco Grand Prix in May, where they met with officials from the International Automobile Federation (FIA).
Wycliffe Nyamasege
Source : https://en.igihe.com/news/article/no-excuse-hamilton-pushes-f1-for-race-in-africa-amid-rwanda-talks
