Lewis Hamilton “forced to stay a lot longer” in F1 amid African Grand Prix hopes

It’s always an exciting time when Formula 1 plans a new race, but Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton is over the moon with the news that the championship is heading to Rwanda on a ten-year deal for an African Grand Prix. He’s so excited, in fact, that he’s hoping he can hold on and compete there when the time comes.

The race is expected to take place in the early 2030s, which would put the seven-time F1 champion in his mid-40s.

Sat beside Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli in the press conference ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, the Scuderia driver was asked whether anything had surprised him about the young driver’s first title fight. After praising Antonelli, he looked to his own future on the grid.

“I’m looking forward to racing with him longer and we’ll see about, I mean, 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.”

Antonelli replied: “So you’ve got to come.”

Hamilton added: “So, yeah, 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.”

It was not the first time Antonelli had urged him on. When Hamilton was first asked about the Rwanda race, the Mercedes driver interjected: “You got to do at least the first.”

Stefano Domenicali at African GP announcement in Rwanda

Hamilton has pushed for a grand prix in Africa for a long time, and said he had been heavily involved behind the scenes.

“I’ve been advocating for a race in Africa for many, many, many years, and countless meetings with the stakeholders, so many meetings with Stefano [Domenicali, F1 CEO] at his office in London, but also race weekends, countless calls, what’s happening, where are we going, who are you meeting with, 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 more than just about one country. It’s about the continent in itself, and there’s so many beautiful countries within it, and 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, and 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, and all of a sudden, it’s on the screen, and kids are talking about it. They go to school talking about it, and so I’m really, really hopeful for that grand prix.”

F1 has not raced in Africa since the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami. If you’re a Hamilton fan, you’ll be crossing your fingers he’s still there by the time Rwanda comes knocking.

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- The Motorsport.com Team