South Africa last hosted a grand prix at Kyalami back in 1993, which also staged the race between 1967 and 1985 before returning in 1992 following the end of apartheid. Show As part of F1's push to race on all continents and fully embrace its world championship status, talks have been ongoing about a potential return to South Africa for some time. Following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend, F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali has travelled to South Africa where he is set to meet with Kyalami officials and other stakeholders for further talks about reviving the race. Although 2024 had been mooted as a possible timeframe for the race to return, it is now understood that F1 could return to South Africa as early as next year, pending a successful outcome to talks in the coming weeks. The return of Kyalami would add to an already-congested calendar for 2023 that is poised to hit the 24-race limit enforced by the Concorde Agreement. The Qatar Grand Prix has already been confirmed as returning to the calendar as part of a new 10-year deal, following its inaugural event last year, while the first Las Vegas Grand Prix has also been announced for November 2023. China is another race that has a contract to return to the schedule next year, although its status remains unclear due to the country's ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.  Damon Hill, Williams FW15C, leads Alessandro Zanardi, Lotus 107B, Rubens Barrichello, Jordan 193, and Ivan Capelli, Jordan 193 Photo by: Motorsport Images From the existing 22-race calendar, the French Grand Prix looks set to drop off the schedule for next year, while doubts remain over the future of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. Seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has been one of the most vocal figures calling for a return to South Africa, saying it was a place "dear to my heart" and that he thought it would highlight the "great following out there". Speaking at the Business of F1 Forum arranged by Motorsport Network and the Financial Times in Monaco, F1's global director of race promotion, Chloe Targett-Adams, said that a foothold in Africa was "something we've been working on for many years now". "COVID showed us that we can race quickly, but really to get where we want to be strategically, to build the sport and build the fanbase, it is a couple of years process," Targett-Adams said. "The US is still very much in our sights. Africa and Asia I think is where we need to be. If you look at China with the way that COVID has happened, we've been out of that market for maybe three years. Next year is still a question mark.
"Africa and Asia is the focus I think in the short- to mid-term, and how we race in Europe is also a big question, making sure we keep that heartland of the sport. "It's a wonderful position to be in, because everyone wants a race. That just gives us the best opportunity to create the most strategically-focused, growth-driven calendar that we've been able to do for many years." The chairman of Motorsport South Africa has blamed the local promoter for Kyalami’s absence on the 2023 F1 calendar. In June this year, it was reported that a deal was being worked on for South Africa to be brought back onto the calendar having last been held in 1993 but, 30 years on from that race, fans are being made to wait even longer. When Formula 1 unveiled its mammoth 24-race calendar for next season, South Africa was absent while new races like the Las Vegas Grand Prix had been added. A proposal for an F1 race is a complicated affair and it is rare to get an inside look at just exactly an unsuccessful bid went wrong but that is exactly what has happened this time round. A total of seven parties were involved in the bid including the FIA, F1, Motorsport South Africa (MSA), the venue provider, the national government, local government and the local promoter. Anton Roux is the chairman of MSA while also sitting on the FIA senate and has pointed blame solely at the local promoter – the SA Grand Prix Association led by Warren Scheckter. Speaking to South African outlet News 24 , he said the reason the race failed to be agreed upon was the local promoter was “unable to deliver on the financial guarantees”. “The reason the F1 event is not taking place in 2023 is that the F1-appointed local promoter was unable to deliver on the financial guarantees,” he said. “The whole issue here is not a fault of the FIA, F1, MSA, or government’s side. It was purely because the local promoter could not deliver. And we now need to replace the local promoter. But I am very confident that we’ll be on the 2024 calendar.” “We need to create more sporting heroes for our children to follow, and I think that will be the big benefit to South African motorsport. “The guys must see a Lewis Hamilton or a Max Verstappen so that they can relate to it. We need to create aspiration.” PlanetF1 reached out to Scheckter for comment but at the time of publication had received no response. The organisers are instead focusing their efforts on 2025 with just one spot available before F1 hits the maximum number of races allowed during a season as dictated by the Concorde Agreement. One of the main advantages of hosting an F1 race is the tourism with a reported 60% of race-going fans not coming from the host country. Roux believes that one advantage for South Africa is their time zone which is the same CET/CEST. “Another advantage we have in South Africa is that we’re in the same time zone as the Europeans,” Roux notes. “So, from a television viewer point of view, it slots in with where the biggest viewership is.” South African GP represents more pushing of the envelope from F1Formula 1 is on its eighth version of the Concorde Agreement, which is an established set of rules and terms teams must abide by to compete in the sport. The current iteration came into force in 2021 and it is a sign of how rapidly the sport has grown that when the previous agreement was signed in 2013, there was a total of 19 races on the calendar. Adding to that number was a slow process until the turn of the new decade where there has been a rapid expansion. The 2020 season was due to have 21 races until COVID reduced that figure to 17. In 2021, it grew to a record 22 races and the 2022 season was scheduled to have 23 before Russia was dropped. In the span of six years, four races will have been added to the calendar and if South Africa gets it wish, it will be 25 events by 2024. While this offers fans, as well as commercial partners, more races, a question has to be asked of both the health of the sport and the health of those taking part.
With the many miles between races and the presence of two triple-headers, drivers, engineers, mechanics and the many hundreds of people that make up the Formula 1 paddock will be asked to spend a large time away from home and their families. The physical toll alongside the mental one of such an endeavour can not be understated and no doubt that fatigue will transfer itself onto the track in some form or another. In terms of on-track matters, there is a genuine argument that more races could make for a weaker quality product. The greater the number of races per calendar, the less value there is on any given race. Why worry about losing out on seven points to your title rival when there are plenty of chances to make that up in the future? Indeed, F1 races could go from feeling less like a grand occasion and more just an average weekend. Formula 1 has bet it all on expansion, it remains to be seen if it will pay off. Will F1 be coming to South Africa?SA will not host a Formula One race in 2023, it has been confirmed, after the announcement that Belgium will remain on the calendar in the year.
Is F1 coming back to Africa?Domenicali on prospect of Formula 1 return to Africa for the first time since the 1990s: "Africa will come back and hopefully very soon on our calendar"; no African-based event on bumper 2023 F1 schedule, exclusively live on Sky Sports.
Will there be an F1 2023?F1 will hold its biggest-ever calendar in 2023, with 24 races scheduled for next season, up from the 22 races held in 2022 – which was initially set to be 23 races before the Russian GP was cancelled.
Where is F1 held in 2023?Grands Prix that are guaranteed to return in 2023 are: Abu Dhabi, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, Emilia Romagna (Imola), Hungary, Italy (Monza), Japan, Miami, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Singapore, Spain and the US (COTA).
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