Lewis Hamilton pushing for Formula One return to Africa before his retirement
Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has vowed not to retire from racing until he races in a Grand Prix in Africa amid push by Rwanda, South Africa and Nigeria to bring the motorsport series back to the continent.
The 41-year-old disclosed this during a press conference on Wednesday ahead of the opening Grand Prix of the 2026 Formula One World Championship season starting in Australia on Friday.
Mr Hamilton noted that he had been working in the background for the past seven years to bring F1 race back to Africa.
“I’ve had the privilege, I’ve been to 10 countries now in Africa, there’s still so much more for me to see… For the past six years, I think, maybe seven, I’ve been fighting in the background to get a Grand Prix. Sitting with the stakeholders and asking them ‘why are we not in Africa? We’re on every other continent, why not Africa?,” the Scuderia Ferrari driver said.
He added “I know they’re really trying. I think they’ve been to quite a few different countries. The ones that I’ve enjoyed the most so far, I loved Kenya, Rwanda particularly was spectacular. Two places I felt like I could live in. South Africa is stunning. I think those are the ones that I think would be good places for us to potentially go to.
“I don’t want to leave the sport without having a Grand Prix there, without getting to race there. I’m gonna be here for a while until that happens because that’ll be amazing.”
Speaking further, Hamilton revealed that he is half African, with ancestry from different countries on the continent, a connection that the veteran driver said he is proud of.
“I’m half African. I’ve got roots from a few different places there. Benin, Senegal, Nigeria. It’s something I’m really proud of, that part of the world. I think it is the most beautiful part of the world, and I don’t like that the rest of the world owns so much of it and takes so much from it and no one speaks about it,” he stated.
The last F1 held in Africa was the 1993 South African Grand Prix, which took place on March 14, 1993 at the Kyalami Circuit near Johannesburg in South Africa but there are renewed moves for the continent to stage the showpiece again.
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