Lewis Hamilton says he will not retire from Formula 1 until the championship returns to Africa, revealing he has pressed the sport’s leadership for years to stage a race on the continent
Lewis Hamilton has said he does not want to retire from Formula 1 before racing in a grand prix in Africa, describing the goal as a personal priority he has pursued for several years.
The seven-time world champion said he had been “fighting in the background” for the past six or seven years and repeatedly asking the sport’s leadership why Formula 1 does not hold a race on the African continent.
“I don’t want to leave the sport without having a grand prix there, without getting to race there,” Hamilton said. “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.”
Hamilton, Formula 1’s first Black driver, has a father of Afro-Caribbean heritage and a white mother. He said he believed senior figures in the sport were making genuine efforts to secure a race in Africa.
At present, however, there is no immediate prospect of an African grand prix being added to the calendar, and the likelihood of a race on the continent before the end of the decade is regarded as low.
Rwanda was the most recent country to be linked with hosting a Formula 1 race, although those prospects have since receded. In recent years, there have also been discussions about a possible return to South Africa, either at Kyalami near Johannesburg or via a proposed street circuit in Cape Town, but both initiatives stalled.
The Kyalami circuit previously hosted Formula 1 races between 1967 and 1985 and again between 1992 and 1993. Hamilton also raised wider concerns about the historical and continuing economic relationship between African nations and wealthier Western countries, particularly former colonial powers.
“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 who 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.”
Speaking before the opening race of the season in Australia this weekend, Hamilton also said he had “rediscovered” himself following what he described as a difficult first year with Ferrari.
During a challenging 2025 season marked by underwhelming performances, Hamilton publicly criticised his own form, at one stage calling himself “useless” and admitting he was “not looking forward” to races. He said the off-season break allowed him to reset mentally and refocus through intensive training and a renewed emphasis on maintaining a positive mindset.
“The break was really positive,” he said. “It was my surroundings. It was the people that I was with. It’s not my first rodeo. So it’s understanding how to flip things. And it’s not that easy to do each time. But I always talk about cultivating a positive mental attitude. And that’s what I focus on in the winter. A lot of it came from training. Training hard on Christmas Day, even though I know it’s hard. I believe in myself that I’ve put more work in than anyone around me. And I believe in myself. Rediscovering myself was really a big part of it as well. As I said in one of my [Instagram] posts, I lost sight of who I was. And that person’s gone. You won’t see that person again.”
Hamilton said he now feels more comfortable within Ferrari after adapting to what he described as a markedly different culture from his previous teams, Mercedes and McLaren.
“It’s massively different to the first year,” he said. “And it’s a much nicer feeling coming, having spent a year with the team, understanding the culture, understanding ways, finding ways of working together. We’re in a good place together as a team now. And I feel very gelled with the team today. I’m much happier.”
