Africa could become the new destination for Formula 1, despite the fact that the event will not be added on the calendar this year, even after the cancellation of the Russian Grand Prix, which will not be replaced in 2022, as the final version of teh calendar will include only 22 events.
American daily newspaper the New York Times informs that an agreement between former Formula 1 host Kyalami, which is situated near Johannesburg in South Africa, is “close to being completed”.
“Johannesburg is definitely on our list,” – explained American businessman Greg Maffei, who is the president and chief executive officer of Liberty Media – “You’d love to have one in Cape Town, but I’m not sure that’s doable, so Johannesburg is the more likely.” – he added.
Former Ferrari boss and current Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali also confirmed that South Africa is the “most likely” new location for the sport and will work on finalizing the details for the deal “as soon as possible”.
The President and CEO of Liberty Media Corporation added: “There’s a desire to do another Asian race potentially. We’ve had interest from places like Indonesia, going back to Malaysia, and there’s been interest in other South American countries, Argentina and Colombia.”
At the same time, there are still many who believe that Formula 1 is focusing too much on pushing into new markets worldwide at the expense of some of the sport’s most historic European venues such as Monte Carlo or France, that may no longer find a place on the Formula 1 calendar. However, Stefano Domenicali feels this is just a way for the traditional venues to realize that they need to improve and adapt to the modern standards and need of the sport.
“For those saying we are pushing too far and not being respectful to racing in Europe, this is wrong,” – the former Ferrari boss explained – “What we are doing is pushing the system for a different approach, to force the promoters to think big because the level of the events we are building is getting bigger.” – he concluded
What seems pretty obvious at this stage is that the Russian Grand Prix, which has been backed by Vladimir Putin, will not be back in Formula 1 in the near future.
