SA shifts F1 bid focus to 2028/29

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa won’t be hosting Formula One in the near future.

Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie admits the country underestimated the requirements needed to stage the event.

READ | SA bids for first African F1 grand prix in 30 years

However, they haven’t given up. 

McKenzie says a team of experts has been appointed to prepare a stronger bid for 2028 or 2029.

Competition to host the high-octane spectacle is between two tracks: a street circuit in Cape Town and the less picturesque but historic Kyalami race track outside of Johannesburg.

READ | SA bids for first African F1 grand prix in 30 years

The challenging Kyalami circuit once hosted nail-biting races and legendary drivers.

The last grand prix on African soil was held in 1993, the year before South Africa’s first democratic elections that ended apartheid. 

It was won by Alain Prost in a Williams.