Rwanda is a “serious” option to host a future Grand Prix, Formula One (F1) chief executive Stefano Domenicali has announced.
The F1 boss confirmed the development during an interview with Motorsport.com, where he also revealed that a meeting with Kigali has been set up to talk about the project, and shows some promise.
“Rwanda is serious. 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,” he said.
Representatives from the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) attended the Monaco Grand Prix to meet with the International Automobile Federation (FIA), while the country will also host the FIA’s annual general assembly and prize giving ceremony in its capital, Kigali, in December.
Domenicali also emphasized on F1’s Grand Prix plan to go to Africa, stating that all they need is “to have the right investment, and the right strategic plan.”
“We need to have the right moment, and we need to make sure that also in that country, in that region, in that continent, there is the right welcoming, because, of course, they have other priorities. We need to be always very careful in making the right choices,” Domenicali told Motorsport.com.
Rwanda has shown an increasing interest in motorsport over the years and has also made a name in hosting big sports events including the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton visited Rwanda in 2022 and has repeatedly called for F1’s return to Africa.
Africa is the one continent in which the global motorsport series does not compete. Previous efforts to stage a race at Kyalami Circuit in South Africa proved unsuccessful.
F1 has hit its target of expansion in the United States with the three races it has there in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas, and is eyeing a new addition to the calendar over the next few years with Thailand Grand Prix as the next pick.
Domenicali said that Africa, which has not hosted an F1 race since the 1993 South African Grand Prix, was something being seriously evaluated.
