Lewis Hamilton has vowed to carry on racing in Formula One until there is a grand prix in Africa, describing it as the “most beautiful part of the world” but adding that the continent needs to “unite and take [Africa] back from the French, the Spanish, the Portuguese and the British.”
Hamilton, 41, was speaking ahead of the 2026 season opener in Melbourne. The seven-time world champion, who described himself as “half-African”, was asked by a South African journalist about a possible return to Africa and in which country he would most like a race to be held.
The 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami was the last grand prix on the African continent.
Hamilton said he had been “fighting for the past six, seven years” to get a race in Africa back on the calendar.
“There’s one on every other continent, why not Africa?” the Ferrari driver said. “I know they [F1] are really trying. I think they’ve been to quite a few different countries.
“The ones that I’ve enjoyed the most: I loved Kenya. [But] I don’t think we’re going to have a grand prix in Kenya. Rwanda was spectacular. Two places I felt like I could live. South Africa is stunning. I think those are the ones I think would be good places for us to potentially go to.”
Hamilton then said that he did not like the fact that other countries “controlled” Africa for its resources.
“I think it is the most beautiful part of the world, and I don’t like that the rest of the world owns so much of it and takes so much from it and no one speaks about it,” he said. “I’m really hoping that the people that are running those different countries all unite and come together and take Africa back. That’s what I want to see. Take it back from the French, take it back from the Spanish, take it back from the Portuguese and the British.
“It’s so important for the future of that continent. They have all the resources to be the greatest and most powerful place in the world, and that’s probably why they are being controlled the way they are. But anyways, move on.”
Hamilton added: “I don’t want to leave the sport without having a grand prix there, without getting to race there, so I’m chasing them: ‘When is it going to be?’ They’re setting certain dates. I’m like, ‘Damn, I could be running out of time…’ So I’m going to be here for a while, until that happens, because that would be amazing, given that I’m half-African.
“I’ve got roots from a few different places there, like Togo and Benin. I went to visit Benin last year, Senegal and Nigeria. It’s something I’m really, really proud of. I’m really proud of that part of the world.”
Hamilton, who is embarking on his 20th season in F1, said he was in a “really positive” frame of mind heading into the first race of the year after “rediscovering” himself over the winter. The Briton endured a difficult debut season in the red of Ferrari, failing to finish on a podium for the first time in his career.
“As I said in one of my [Instagram] posts, I kind of lost sight for a second of who I was,” Hamilton said. “But that person’s gone, you won’t see that person again.”