Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time Formula 1 champion, has expressed his strong desire to race in an Africa Grand Prix before he retires from the sport.
The 41-year-old is preparing for the upcoming F1 2026 season, which begins on Sunday (March 8) with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, where he will compete for Ferrari.
With his African roots, Hamilton also called for the people of Africa to reclaim their continent from other countries, including the British. The comments came on Thursday (March 5), two days before the new season starts. Notably, Hamilton is not only the first Black British driver to win an F1 title but the first Black driver in the whole of sports.
While talking to reporters on March 5, the British driver, who has roots from Togo and Benin in Africa, said: “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. I’m really hoping that the people that are running those different countries all unite and come together and take Africa back.”
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“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,” he added.
Hamilton also informed the reporters that he’s been talking to the stakeholders about a potential Africa GP for the last decade. The F1 champ suggested a couple of countries for the event – Rwanda and South Africa.
“I have been fighting in the background to get a grand prix … sitting with stakeholders,” he said. 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. That would be amazing, given that I’m half African. There’s one on every other continent, why not Africa? I know they’re really trying.”
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