Formula 1 calls itself a World Championship. But every year, the series skips a whole continent, and not just any continent, the second biggest.
There have been growing calls to bring Africa back onto the calendar, but F1 doesn’t seem to be in any hurry. So why has the continent been left off? Why does it deserve a place? What would it take to finally bring a Grand Prix back to Africa?
Why Africa deserves a spot on the F1 calendar
Africa hasn’t had a Grand Prix since 1993. That’s over 30 years. In that time, F1 has added more and more races in Europe and the US. In fact, this year we’ve got nine in Europe. Three in the US. Some European countries even have two, like Italy. But nothing on the entire continent of Africa. Not even one.
That doesn’t sit right in my opinion.
What about Kyalami?
People like to act as if it’s impossible, but it’s not. Kyalami, a circuit in South Africa, already exists. It’s been upgraded, it meets most of the required standards, and with a bit more investment, it could absolutely be ready to bring F1 back to the heart of Johannesburg.
Let’s not forget, just as much effort had to go into getting Zandvoort back on the calendar. Alright, they paid for it themselves. In South Africa, that might be harder to sort. But F1 is a sport that moves millions, even billions, every season. If F1 really wanted Africa back on the map, the money could be found.
The problem isn’t the track. It’s that the sport keeps looking elsewhere. Mostly where the money can be found. Places with real potential and an untapped continental market get overlooked for the promise of bigger checks elsewhere!
Other options available
Kyalami is the obvious one, but it’s not the only option. Cape Town has had talks about a street race. Which has been done in the likes of Las Vegas, Baku and Monaco where they transform a city into a circuit, so why not in Africa? Morocco has Marrakesh, where Formula E has already raced, so they definitely know how to deal with the race-related circus. There are plenty of options out there.
The fans are already there. In South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana… You name it. People watch the races. They follow the teams. They care just as much as fans in Europe or America. So why does F1 keep skipping them?
And more importantly: how can the sport talk about the lack of drivers with African roots when it won’t even put in the effort to race in their part of the world? Representation doesn’t happen by chance.
It’s bigger than just one race
This isn’t about fairness for the sake of it. It’s about what the sport claims to stand for. If F1 says it’s for everyone, then it should show up everywhere. Not just where the skyline sparkles or the money flows. These days, the sport seems obsessed with glitz and glamour. Red carpets on the grid. Celebrities in the paddock.
But real motorsport fans? They’ll sit through a weekend of Belgian rain and mud without complaint. They’ll huddle under makeshift hats in a Japanese typhoon. They’ll burn to a crisp under the Spanish sun, because they love this sport.
Africa has the people. It has the passion. It even has the circuits, or at least, places that could become them. What it doesn’t have is backing from those who call the shots. And until that changes, Formula 1 looks less like a global championship and more like a private club, racing only where it suits them.
Yes, there are always reasons not to do something. The calendar’s packed. Logistics are tricky. But those hurdles haven’t stopped new races from popping up elsewhere, even in places that make little logistical sense. Somehow, those obstacles only seem to matter when it comes to Africa.
The truth is, if Formula 1 genuinely wants to grow, if it truly wants to be global, it has to stop ignoring an entire continent. It has to stop excluding a whole community of fans who’ve been here all along, just waiting for the sport to show up.