Will Formula 1 return to South Africa?

For the last two years, the possibility of Formula 1 returning to Africa has looked more and more likely. With public and private support from star driver Lewis Hamilton and a growing fan base on the continent, the continued omission of Africa from motorsport's premium product looks increasingly unsustainable.

After attempts to bring the sport back to the last location of a race in Africa –  the Kyalami racetrack in Johannesburg, South Africa –  failed, the wait continues. However, a recent meeting between South African Minister of Sports and Recreation Gayton McKenzie and Formula 1 Chief Executive Stefano Domenicali has reignited the belief that Africa will again have a race sooner rather than later.

Money an issue, but not the only one

The hefty contract fees required to host an F1 weekend are undoubtedly a stumbling block for any interested country. The most recent Grand Prix on the calendar, Singapore, reportedly costs $35 million (€31.4 million) per year to host. On top of that comes the operating cost. Street races, such as Singapore, are cheaper to start because they don't require new construction. However, they cost a lot to maintain because it's expensive to transform public roads into a race track, and to install temporary seating.

A permanent race track avoids the high running costs of a street circuit, but it means more money upfront. Given its history and the restoration it underwent after Porsche South Africa CEO Toby Venter bought it in 2014, the Kyalami racetrack appears the most likely candidate. But is money the only obstacle in bringing Formula 1 back to Africa?

"I think it's the unequal distribution. South Africa, Africa has always faced negative perceptions," Dr. Kamilla Swart-Arries, an expert in South Africa's events industry and the legacy of sports events, told DW.

"It's very much like my experiences in Qatar with the 2022 World Cup; two very different contexts, but lots of similarities when it comes to perceptions about a host country and continent," added Swart-Arries, who is currently working at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar.

In essence, it's about looking at Africa as a place of potential rather than viewing it through the tired, stereotypical lens of starving children and corrupt leaders. Global sporting events in Africa have been few and far between, with the 2010 football World Cup the most recent and perhaps the 1995 Rugby World Cup the most significant.

Formula 1 could go some way to changing that by finally racing on the continent again, but the significance of taking the fastest show on earth to Africa is only the beginning. Sports such as F1, where the majority of decision-makers, drivers, team principles and engineers are white men, are a living example of the unlevel playing field. The hope of racing in Africa, as has been the hope with races in the Middle East, is that it will go some way to changing that.

"I think the concept of legacy has evolved since the work we did around the World Cup, in terms of saying legacy really starts with when you're bidding for it," Swart-Arries explained.

"It's about structural changes, so how much does that event change perceptions in South Africa and Africa or in terms of changes of attitudes, behavior, or changes in skills, knowledge and networks? There are a lot of positives, but a big issue is the financial challenge and developing opportunity."

Yarish, an electronic engineer in South Africa is a big F1 fan and an even bigger fan of Lewis Hamilton. He's keen to see the sport return because it will show the world the country can still host world events. But he believes more work towards equal opportunity must be included in the strategic vision of Formula 1's return to South Africa.

"Investment in 4IR [Fourth Industrial Revolution] technologies and development of skilled youth needs to be made. Also, the racing sector is only available to the rich in the country, therefore there needs to be interventions made to develop racing skills for people from different backgrounds," Yarish told DW.

The 2010 football World Cup in South Africa serves as a timely reminder that major sporting events require consideration beyond the show in order to have a really positive legacy. Expensive stadiums that have fallen into disrepair, a team that hasn't been at a World Cup since 2010 and the familiar drone of the vuvuzela is, sadly, what most now associate with that tournament in Africa 14 years ago. A tangible legacy beyond the magic of that month is hard to see and that's why if F1 does return to Africa the details of the deal will matter significantly.

Legacy beyond the race

"It's a double-edged sword, because the difference with F1 as opposed to a World Cup or Olympic Games, is it returns every year, so that should be the positive, that it keeps the economy going, the sustaining of jobs and the continuation of event, hospitality and tourism industries," said Swart-Arries "But at the same time, you have to put on a very good show. You're going to want to have people come back every year, year on year, and so how do you make your race more unique than the next race?"

This will be a challenge. If the aforementioned Kyalami racetrack is chosen, the fact that Johannesburg, the business capital, is only a two-hour flight from Cape Town, the leisure capital, will help. The benefits of a trip to the country for a race weekend, while perhaps not cheap, are clearly marketable from a tourism perspective as well as likely opening up new markets. Herbert Mensah, the man in charge of Rugby Africa, has spoken of utilizing a similar approach to engage the world to the power and potential of investing in African sports.

Beyond the tourism angle, lies the aforementioned task of creating opportunity. Swart-Arries' own son is a motorsport fan, and even though she is aware the chances of him reaching the top are unlikely, she is hopeful that there might be a career in motorsport for him beyond being a driver.

"I think that's the kind of aspirational drive of hosting a Formula 1 race. It's leveraging STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] education, technology, aspiring young girls or women, levelling the playing fields, if it's for all those other reasons and we can make it work then I say yes to Formula 1 in Africa."

Edited by: Chuck Penfold