Online Reporter
LEWIS HAMILTON says he does not want to retire from Formula 1 until he can race in a Grand Prix in Africa.
The seven-time world champion said he had been “fighting in the background” for the past six or seven years, asking the sport’s bosses “why are we not in Africa?”.
“I don’t want to leave the sport without having a grand prix there, without getting to race there,” Hamilton said. “I’m chasing them — when is it going to be?
“They’re setting certain dates. I’m like, damn, I could be running out of time, so I’m going to be here for a while until that happens, because that would be amazing, given that I’m half-African.”
Hamilton — F1’s first black driver, with a father of Afro-Caribbean background and a white mother — said he knew F1 bosses were “really trying” to arrange a race on the continent.
However, there is no imminent prospect of one appearing on the schedule, and the chances of there being a race in Africa before the end of this decade are low.
Rwanda was the most recent country linked to hosting a race, but the chances of that have rescinded.
There were also talks in recent years about returning to South Africa — at Kyalami near Johannesburg or in Cape Town – but both collapsed.
Kyalami hosted races from 1967-85 and 1992-93, when South Africa was still under apartheid.
Hamilton said he was concerned about the way many African countries continue to be exploited by richer Western nations, especially those that colonised the continent in the 18th and 19th centuries.
“It is the most beautiful part of the world, and I don’t like that the rest of the world owns so much of it and takes so much from it and no-one speaks about it,” Hamilton said.
“I’m really hoping that the people that are running those different countries all unite and come together and take Africa back. That’s what I want to see.
“Take it back from the French. Take it back from the Spanish. Take it back from the Portuguese and the British.
“It’s so important for the future of that continent. They have all the resources to be the greatest and most powerful place in the world, and that’s probably why they are being controlled the way they are.”
Before the first race of the season in Australia this weekend, Hamilton said he has “rediscovered” himself after a difficult first season at Ferrari last year.
Amid a series of poor performances in 2025, Hamilton made a series of negative comments about his own performances, including that he was “useless” and was “not looking forward”. — BBC Sport.
