Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton on Thursday gave his â100 per centâ backing to a Grand Prix in Africa, with Formula One bosses poised for talks over staging a race in Rwanda.
âWhy are we not on that continent?â Hamilton asked when quizzed about including an African stop on the Grand Prix circuit.
F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali has set up a meeting next month with representatives from Rwanda, who have put forward a âseriousâ proposal.
Africa has not hosted a Grand Prix since 1993 in South Africa, but Domenicali said F1 bosses needed to weigh up several factors.
âWe want to go to Africa, but we need to have the right investment, and the right strategic plan,â Domenicali told Motorsport.com.
But Hamilton said it was â100 per cent the right timeâ to bring racing to Africa.
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âWe canât be adding races in other locations and continue to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world just takes from. No one gives anything to Africa,â said Hamilton.
âI think having a Grand Prix there will really be able to highlight just how great the place is and bring in tourism and all sorts of things,â he added.
Hamilton told reporters he had been working behind the scenes and had spoken to officials in Rwanda — âone of my favourite places Iâve ever been toâ — and South Africa.
The 39-year-old said he was âstill digestingâ a trip he took over the Formula One summer break through Africa, including visiting refugee camps with the UNHCR organisation.
âIf you donât see it and experience it or speak to someone whoâs been seriously affected by it, you couldnât even imagine,â he said of the refugeesâ plight.
He said the trip had given him food for thought about how he could help after his F1 career. But for now, the priority is getting the motorsport circus to stop in Africa.
âThe current excuse is that maybe thereâs not a track thatâs ready, but there is at least one track thatâs ready there,â he insisted.
âIn the short term, we should just get on that track and have that as part of the calendar and then work on building out something even more.â
Source Agencies