Lewis Hamilton has thrown his weight behind a Grand Prix being held in Rwanda, with Formula One chiefs said to be serious about moving the sport back to the African continent.
Europe, Asia, North and South America, as well as Oceania all lay claim to at least one GP. The odd one out? Africa.
That hasn’t always been the case, with South Africa a former host, but racing on the F1 circuit hasn’t taken place in Johannesburg for over three decades.
It’s something Hamilton wants to see changed, with the seven-time world champion increasingly vocal about the lack of Formula One activity in Africa.
Speaking ahead of the Dutch GP this weekend, Hamilton commented: “The time is 100 per cent right [to race in Africa]. We can’t be adding races in other locations and continue to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world just takes from. No one gives anything to Africa.
“There’s a huge amount of work that needs to be done there. But a lot of the world, that haven’t been, don’t realise how beautiful the place is and having a Grand Prix there will really be able to highlight that and bring in tourism.”
Refuting claims that the infrastructure isn’t there to host a race, Hamilton continued: “Why are we not on that continent? The current excuse is that maybe there’s not a track that’s ready, but there is at least one track (Kyalami) that’s ready.
“In the short term, we should just have that as part of the calendar and then work on building something. That will be a conversation I’ll have with Stefano.
“Rwanda is one of my favourite places I’ve been to. I’ve been doing a lot of work in the background on it. I’ve spoken to people in Rwanda, I’ve spoken to people in South Africa. Rwanda is a longer project, but it’s amazing that they’re so keen to get a part of it.”
Hamilton’s wish might be the F1 bosses’ command, with CEO Stefano Domenicali recently saying: “They [Rwanda] are serious,” the F1 CEO explained. “They have presented a good plan and actually we have a meeting with them at the end of September. It will be on a permanent track.”
In the meantime, it’s all eyes on Zandvoort in the northern Netherlands, with racing set to get back underway after the summer break.
Hamilton, who topped the podium in controversial fashion last time out, is eyeing up his first back-to-back P1 finishes since December 2021.
Source link : https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-autosport/1939573/lewis-hamilton-africa-f1-race
Author :
Publish date : 2024-08-23 07:00:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
