South Africans are sharing a post about the F1 coming to Kyalami in South Africa… but is it really?
Johannesburg, South Africa (08 April 2022) – An April Fools joke about the F1 coming to Kyalami Race Track in 2023 is still doing the rounds in South Africa a week later.
But it begs the question… could F1 return to South Africa?
Hassan Natha shared the original post on the 1st of April, which is still being shared… so we thought we would clear it up for you.
Here is the tweet:
BREAKING: F1 will return to Kyalami in 2023! pic.twitter.com/eMXlaxvyTd
— Sir Alex FergHassan ➐ (@HassanNatha) April 1, 2022
So the post is 100% an April fools joke… but is it a possibility?
A news report in Wheels24 in 2021 stated that Warren Scheckter, the CEO of the South African Grand Prix and Toby Venter, the owner of Kyalami, said that the race track was “ready” to bring Formula 1 back to the nation in 2023.
Related Story
“We want to have a race in Africa, and we want someone to pay for it. If the money is there, the race will happen. And, if F1 is desperate to race in Africa, even without the money, we have the track,” Venter explains.
“The most important thing is that it’s safer than a street circuit, too. The FIA would need to come over for inspection, and they’ll ask for some upgrades like installing the sport’s hi-tech barriers. We’ll also need to work on some more run-off areas and make it safer here and there.”
And then, in March 2022, F1 boss Stefano Domenicali told Sky Sports that South Africa is being lined up as a potential new venue on an extended F1 calendar.
Domenicali referenced Africa as a potential market to grow.
“South Africa’s Kyalami circuit – which Lewis Hamilton recently insisted should be back in F1 – last hosted a race in 1993 and has been mooted as an option.”
“On top of America, on top of China, I think there is a potential also to be in Africa soon,” Domenicali stated. “There is a lot of interest there. For sure, that’s another area that so far is missing in the geography of our calendar.”
“It is up to us to try to find the right balance considering what are the venues which would like to be in F1, what are the historical values we need to see on the calendar.”
“There are some promoters who have expiring agreements, and probably some of the current grands prix will no longer be part of the calendar,” he said.
So is Formula 1 coming to South Africa in 2023?
No… but maybe.
by 