Lewis Hamilton says the arrival of the African Grand Prix on the F1 calendar means he’ll be fighting to keep his career going long enough to race on the continent.

Last week, Formula 1 confirmed an African Grand Prix will return to the calendar in the early 2030s, with a new racetrack being put together in Rwanda to mark the first race on the continent since 1993.

Lewis Hamilton determined to race in Africa as Rwanda prepares for F1 debut

A race in Africa has been a notable absence in recent years, with the most recent event on the continent taking place in South Africa in 1993.

While new events in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States have all emerged in recent years, Africa seemed little more than a pipe dream as efforts to secure a race event never seemed quite focused enough to become a reality.

But the situation has changed, with Rwanda being announced on a new 10-year deal for a race on the outskirts of capital city Kigali, where a new circuit facility is planned to slot in alongside a brand-new, state-of-the-art international airport.

Once the airport enters operations, planned in 2028, the intent is to firm up a starting year for Rwanda, with the early indications being that the new RISE Motordrome will hold its first race in 2032.

Lewis Hamilton has been a long-time advocate for an F1 return to Africa.

Earlier this year, he said he “didn’t want to leave the sport without having a Grand Prix there, without getting to race there”, but the seven-time F1 World Champion has revealed he now wants to ensure he gets the chance to do so.

At 41 years old, Hamilton is already one of the eldest drivers on the grid, and he will be 47 years old by the time the African Grand Prix likely rolls around.

Fernando Alonso, at 45 years old, is bucking the trend of contemporary F1 drivers by remaining in the sport and performing at a high level, but such career longevity is very much an outlier in the modern era.

For Hamilton, he says the race in Rwanda gives him extra motivation to stay on the grid.

“I’m now forced to have to stay a lot longer because we have a race in Africa, and that’s been my dream to be able to race in Africa,” he said in Thursday’s press conference in the United States.

“So I mean, I have to keep fighting to try and stay fit if I can. If I can still punch out good results over the next year, we’ll keep it going.”

Given his advocacy for a race in Africa, Hamilton said last week’s announcement came as welcome news.

“[I’ve had] countless meetings with the stakeholders, so many meetings with Stefano [Domenicali, F1 CEO] at his office in London, but also on race weekends, countless calls: ‘What’s happening? Where are we going? Who are you meeting with?'” he said.

“Many meetings with different presidents from different countries. Lots of phone calls with different presidents from different countries within Africa.

“I think, for me, it’s a place that deserves to have a Grand Prix. It’s about more than just one country. It’s about the continent itself, and there are so many beautiful countries within it.

“The people are so lovely. The culture is so rich, and I think it’s important that we get to show that to the world. We get to do that with our sport. We get to go to all these different countries, and people see some of these countries they didn’t really know too much about.”

Hamilton opined that the arrival of an African Grand Prix can only be a net positive for the continent, with such a high-profile event shining a light on the societal and economic issues that are rampant across many of its countries.

“All of a sudden, it becomes something that’s on the screen, and kids are talking about it. They go to school talking about it. So, I’m really, really hopeful for that Grand Prix,” he said.

“Of course, I don’t get to choose where we go. Naturally, there are problems all over the world today, so I’ve seen many of the stories. But I think we really have to approach it with humility. There’s a lot that we don’t know.

“Growing up in England, they never taught us anything about Africa. It needs to be on the curriculum. A lot of the problems they have there are still results of colonialism and the West intervening.

“But, if you go and see the people, you see so many designs that are out there today from top brands that come from Africa. It’s got all the richest resources.

“I really hope, and I still have hope, that Africa unites. I know there are many people who don’t want that to happen because they would be so powerful if they did.

“But I’m still hopeful that at some stage they will. And, yeah, of course, going there doesn’t mean that you neglect the things that are happening there.

“So hopefully many people start to educate themselves a little bit more about what is happening there and what has happened there for hundreds of years.

“I hope that does spark the conversation. And then I guess I’ll finish it off with this: I think we need to make sure we’re pushing to free Congo, free Sudan, free Syria, free Palestine. I think there’s a lot of peace that I’m hoping we get to at some stage.”

Speaking in the aftermath of the confirmation by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, sports minister Nelly Mukazayire said the event is open to collaboration with Hamilton on promoting the event on a global scale.

“It’s true [Lewis] has been a very strong voice about F1 in Africa, and we are open to collaboration with anyone who is really fostering this initiative,” she told the media in Kigali, including PlanetF1.com.

“And then, as you’ve seen, in the entire ecosystem, and I think the president of the FIA mentioned it, Domenicali mentioned it, it’s something that many, many of the people in F1, whether it’s competitors, whether it’s group managers, whether it’s promoters, whether it’s fans, that they were seeing that this is the next stage.

“So we are very much open to any collaboration, whether it’s him or anybody else who is also a strong voice and advocating for this cause, because this is open to partnership with everyone to make it happen and make it sustainable and impactful.”