Formula 1 has announced it will return to race in Africa for the first time since 1993.
The series has agreed a 10-year deal to race in Rwanda, which has never previously held a round of the world championship. Unusually, no year for the inaugural race has been confirmed, with F1 saying only that it will “join the calendar in the early 2030s”.A new circuit will be constructed in Bugesera, in the Eastern province of Rwanda. The track will be located 40 kilometres south of Rwanda’s capital Kigali, which hosted the FIA’s General Assembly and award ceremony in 2024.
F1 published an image of the planned circuit, which was created by Tilke Gmbh and Wurz Design, but gave no details of its specifications.
“Further details regarding the inaugural race date, circuit development milestones and race weekend plans will be announced in due course,” said F1.
According to Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame the race will be called the “Formula 1 African Grand Prix”.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali called the announcement “a landmark moment for Formula 1.”
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“With Rwanda joining the calendar from the next decade, our sport will race in every inhabited continent, bringing the world championship closer than ever to fans around the globe.”
F1 first raced in Africa in 1958, when Morocco’s Aib-Diab circuit held the final round of the season. However the series never returned to the northern African state.
The series found a longer-term home in South Africa, first at a track in East London, then at the popular Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg. South Africa held 23 grands prix, though the series faced growing criticism for holding events under the country’s racist apartheid regime, which led some teams to boycott the 1985 race.
Following a seven-year absence, F1 returned to a heavily revised Kyalami circuit for two races in the nineties.
By the time Rwanda hosts its first grand prix, up to 40 years may have passed since F1’s last race in Africa.
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