I will deliver the Formula One dream to SA, says Gayton McKenzie

Sports, arts & culture minister Gayton McKenzie is the latest proponent of the call for the return of Formula One to SA.

The minister was recently captured in a video telling content creator Lallies & Motorsport that Cape Town is getting a new FIA-approved racetrack in line with his confidence that he’s getting SA ready to host a race.

In a statement issued by Motorsport SA, the organisation’s CEO, Vic Maharaj, said: “MSA is aware the ministry has engaged in discussions with the F1 management team and is committed to bringing a Formula One event to the country.

“Motorsport SA is excited and ready to support the ministry and will be fully prepared to offer its assistance once officially mandated,” the statement reads, though MSA didn’t respond to questions about the purported new racetrack mentioned by McKenzie, its location and project details.

Also adding muscle to the calls for Africa’s turn in the past week was former F1 champion Lewis Hamilton. He was quoted telling a UK sports channel: “We can’t be adding races in other locations and continuing to ignore Africa.”

His F1 rival and reigning champion Max Verstappen, whose Red Bull Formula One team held a showcase on Sandton streets at the weekend with David Coulthard at the wheel, has in the past voiced his wishes for a race on African soil.

The saga of SA hosting a race has been brewing over the years, with a number of bids failing to secure the spectacle. Warren Scheckter, founder and CEO of SAGP, said an F1 race at Kyalami was possible with combined corporate and taxpayer sponsorship.

The son of former F1 driver Ian Scheckter and nephew of SA’s 1979 F1 world champion Jody Scheckter established SAGP in 2015, partnering with the late former Eskom chair and businessperson Jabu Mabuza in the hopes to bring F1 to SA. The bid failed.

“Funding a local F1 race has always been a sticking point,” said Scheckter at the time, and “with the hosting fee demanded by organisers proving too expensive to attract corporate sponsorship and government unwilling to support what was seen as a ‘white elitist’ sport”, added Scheckter.

Earlier in the week, McKenzie added perspective when he said: “This is the reason previous bids failed, because there were many cooks in the kitchen. I personally asked the F1 Group to speak only with the ministry & Motorsport SA.

“There are many bids floating around, from people who think that political connectivity lands you F1. But they are bids with zero money. We are busy bringing F1, not a comedy show.”

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali visited SA in 2022 to discuss SA hosting a race in 2023, making a stop at the Kyalami racetrack in Midrand, Johannesburg.

Kyalami, which last hosted a F1 race in 1993, is the only track in SA with plausible facilities to host a modern F1 race thanks to its FIA Grade Two licence.

A track needs FIA Grade One certification to host a Grand Prix, and much money to cover the high and protected hosting fee payable to Liberty Media, owners of the F1 franchise. 

McKenzie and Motorsport SA are yet to give a full report, but the minister said: “I am the head chef, with Motorsport SA. We will soon announce a local organising committee consisting of all the role players who will make sure we successfully land the F1 in SA.”