F1 to return to Africa for first time since 1993

Rwanda will host Africa's first Formula One Grand Prix since 1993 in "the early 2030s" after the circuit announced a decade-long deal with the country on Tuesday. The East African nation has been chasing a Grand Prix race for years, having already used football, basketball and other sports to enhance its image and attract investment. President Paul Kagame had formally announced the bid when Rwanda hosted a gathering of the FIA, the governing body of the sport, in December 2024. The last time an F1 race was held in Africa was the 33rd South African Grand Prix near Johannesburg in 1993, one year before apartheid formally ended there with democratic, multi-racial elections. The first African Grand Prix in Rwanda will take place "once a new purpose-built circuit in Bugesera, Rwanda, has been completed", F1 said in a statement. "Today is a landmark moment for Formula One," F1 president Stefano Domenicali added. "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. "Africa has always been part of Formula One's future, and from the beginning we were determined to return in the right way, with the right partner, a...