Rwanda seems set to bring Formula 1 back to Africa with a 10-year deal

Formula 1 seems set to race in Africa again for the first time since 1993. The sport announced on Tuesday, October 13, a 10-year agreement with Rwanda for a new Formula 1 African Grand Prix, which F1 says will join the calendar in the “early 2030s,” according to F1’s announcement, BBC Sport, the Guardian (PA Media), Reuters via CNA and DW. F1 says Visit Rwanda — the country’s tourist arm, as DW describes it — will present the race. F1 posted its announcement at 09:18 UTC (2:18 a.m. PT), and BBC Sport followed at 09:20 UTC (2:20 a.m. PT), the earliest reports this desk saved. F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali spoke at a press conference in Kigali alongside Rwandan President Paul Kagame and FIA head Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Reuters reports via CNA.

The race needs a track first. F1 says the first race will take place once a new purpose-built circuit in Bugesera has reached completion, which F1 expects “early in the next decade.” F1 and Reuters (via CNA) put the site about 40 km south of the capital, Kigali; BBC Sport and the Guardian give 25 miles, and DW describes it as southeast of Kigali. The circuit will sit beside the new Kigali International Airport, F1 says, and Reuters describes that airport as still under construction. F1 says the track will meet FIA Grade 1 standards as part of a wider sports, tourism, infrastructure and commercial project led by the Rwanda Development Board, and that the venue will host motorsport, major events and conferences year-round. F1 describes a circuit “designed to work in harmony with the natural landscape, using the area’s elevation changes to create a unique and challenging racing experience while delivering exceptional viewing opportunities for fans”; BBC Sport quotes the same line from F1’s statement.

Accounts of the design stage differ slightly. BBC Sport says former F1 driver Alex Wurz designed the circuit and that three companies — track architect Tilke, DAR and WurzDesign — will oversee the build. F1’s own explainer, by Lawrence Barretto, says design work on the final layout continues as a collaboration between WurzDesign, headed by Wurz, and Tilke Engineers and Architects. The Guardian reports, citing an unattributed understanding, that F1 will consult the grid’s drivers on the final design.

“Today is a landmark moment for Formula 1,” Domenicali said in F1’s statement. “With Rwanda joining the calendar from the next decade, our sport will race in every inhabited continent, bringing the World Championship closer than ever to fans around the globe.” The Guardian, Reuters via CNA and DW carry the same lines with small spelling and capitalisation differences; BBC Sport renders the first one as “a landmark moment for F1” and the second as racing “on every inhabited continent.” Domenicali added, according to F1: “This is about much more than hosting a Grand Prix. Together, we can create lasting economic and social benefits through tourism, investment, skills development and local business growth, ensuring the positive impact of this event is felt for generations.” Reuters paraphrases that passage as Domenicali talking up economic and social benefits through tourism and investment.

Kagame, in F1’s statement, said: “Today belongs to Africa. For more than three decades, the world’s premier motorsport championship has raced without this continent, and that changes with this agreement.” He added: “The circuit in Bugesera, alongside the new international airport, will bring jobs, skills, tourism and new business to our country and our region for decades to come, because our aim was never a single race weekend, but a lasting benefit for our people.” BBC Sport quotes both lines but leaves out “Today belongs to Africa” and the sentence on the partnership as “an investment in Rwanda’s future.” DW separately quotes Kagame calling the event “a success and a milestone for the entire continent, especially for the African fans,” and says he hoped it could lead to more F1 events in Africa; this desk did not find that line in F1’s statement. Reuters, via CNA, says Kagame announced his landlocked East African country’s bid two years ago.

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said, according to F1: “The return of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship to Africa is a historic moment for our sport and an important step in the continued global growth of motorsport.” F1 says more than 100 million fans already follow the sport across the continent, and that almost 60% of fans in key Sub-Saharan African markets fall under the age of 35. Domenicali’s line that “Africa is home to more than 100 million Formula 1 fans” appears in F1’s statement, and the Guardian and Reuters via CNA carry it with “Formula One.” BBC Sport says F1 hopes the race will help it expand in Africa, which BBC Sport calls a relatively unexplored market compared with Europe, Asia and the Americas.

The calendar slot remains open. F1 says details of the inaugural race date, circuit milestones and race-weekend plans “will be announced in due course,” and the Guardian reports that a year for the first race “is yet to be rubber-stamped.” BBC Sport says the race’s place in the year’s schedule remains unsettled, and expects F1 to avoid Rwanda’s main rain season of March to May, noting a shorter, less disruptive rain season from October to November. F1 remains committed to a season of no more than 24 races, BBC Sport reports.

Africa last hosted a world-championship round at Kyalami, near Johannesburg, in 1993, Reuters (via CNA) and BBC Sport report; BBC Sport adds that Kyalami returned for two races in 1992 and 1993 as apartheid came to an end. Morocco staged the first grand prix in Africa, the final round of the 1958 championship, BBC Sport says, and Reuters says Morocco held that race outside Casablanca and that Rwanda will become the third African country to host a round of the championship, which began in 1950. South Africa has held talks with F1 in recent years about a return at venues including Kyalami and Cape Town without reaching a deal, BBC Sport reports.

Lewis Hamilton had pushed for the move. The Guardian says F1 “has answered Lewis Hamilton’s call” and reports that the seven-time world champion, 41, said at the recent Singapore Grand Prix: “I’ve always said that we need to have a Grand Prix in Africa. For me, it’s the most important continent and the most beautiful continent.” F1’s explainer prints a slightly different wording of the same remarks (“It is, for me, the most important continent…”). DW, which notes Hamilton now drives for Ferrari, says he has described himself as “fighting in the background” for years for an African race. Mercedes driver George Russell, quoted in F1’s explainer from before the announcement, said: “Formula 1 is a worldwide sport. Africa is the only [inhabited] continent we don’t race on and it’s about time we had a race there.”

The deal also draws scrutiny. BBC Sport writes that the race “is likely to be controversial as Rwanda has previously been accused of sportswashing,” and expects opposition from human rights groups, as with Rwanda’s sponsorship of Premier League clubs Arsenal and Aston Villa. BBC Sport also notes that the Democratic Republic of Congo has filed a case against Rwanda at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of breaching treaties on genocide prevention, racial discrimination, women’s rights and torture. DW reports that Kagame has served as president for 25 years, that he routinely wins over 99% of the vote, and that critics often fault Rwanda’s human rights record; DW lists Visit Rwanda deals with Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, says Bayern dropped the commercial element last year after fan and media backlash and Arsenal did not renew, and says many critics label the policy sportswashing. An F1 spokesperson told BBC Sport: “We have the opportunity to inspire and bring the passion of F1 to 100 million people across Africa and sport can be a positive force for good.” F1’s announcement, as saved by this desk, does not address the criticism. F1 lists events Rwanda has already hosted, including the UCI Road World Championships, the 2023 FIFA Congress and the 2024 FIA General Assemblies and FIA Awards Ceremony.