South African Minister of Sport: F1 will “definitely” return to the country

According to South Africa's Minister of Sport, Art and Culture Gayton McKenzie, Formula 1 will return to the country in the future. This comes after Lewis Hamilton's plea for the sport to return to the continent of Africa earlier in the year.

“I can tell you this, F1 is definitely coming [to South Africa]. F1 told us they’re keen to come, they told us what they’ll need to come, and we are going to give them what they need to come.” This is what South Africa's Minister of Sport, Art and Culture Gayton McKenzie said in a conversation with motorsport social media personality LalliesF1.

F1 has not raced on African soil since 1993 when Alain Prost took victory at Kyalami and in the 30 years since that race, the sport has visited every continent except Africa and Antarctica. Formula E did race in Cape Town in 2023, but according to McKenzie, it is undecided whether the F1 event would be held in Cape Town or South Africa's other largest city - Johannesburg. “There’s still a big fight at the moment. Is it Cape Town, or is it Joburg? That decision has not been taken.”

Earlier in the year before the Dutch Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton made it clear he believes the sport should already be visiting the continent rather than visiting the same countries multiple times a year. "We can't be adding races in other locations and continuing to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world just takes from. No one gives anything to Africa." Hamilton had said to GPblog and others.

Red Bull and David Coulthard took the RB7 (the car in which Sebastian Vettel won his second world title in) to Johannesburg for a show run.