South Africa, despite all the rumours, is the big absentee from the recently announced calendar for the 2023 season. Negotiations with the Kyalami Circuit came to nothing. Anton Roux, president of Motorsport South Africa (MSA) reacts.

On Tuesday, the calendar for the 2023 season was published, confirming a record 24-race season and the exclusion of South Africa. So, what went wrong in the process around bringing in a race in South Africa and can anything be salvaged to host a race in 2024?

Roux confirmed News24 Sport: "The reason the F1 event in 2023 will not take place is that the local promoter appointed by F1 was unable to live up to the financial guarantees." He continued: "The whole problem here is not the fault of the FIA, F1, MSA or the government. It was purely because the local promoter could not deliver. And we now have to replace the local promoter. But I am confident that we will be on the 2024 calendar. "

Convinced of spot in 2024

Although next year is no longer a possibility, Roux is confident Kyalami will be included in the 2024 calendar. Talks are already taking place between South Africa (as host country) and potential promoters and, says Roux, all the promoters they are talking to have experience hosting F1 races.

Roux also believes that racing on the African continent will really make F1 a global spectacle. It will also be very good for the South African economy. He also sees another advantage: "We are in the same time zone as the Europeans, so, from the point of view of television viewers, it ties in with where the largest number of viewers are."