Formula 1’s long-running efforts to return a race to South Africa have been thwarted again, according to multiple reports.
That, in turn, has apparently led to the Belgian Grand Prix being given another lifeline.
Formula 1 Chief Executive and President Stefano Domenicali has held talks over the past year to advance the motor-racing championship’s long-held goal of returning a grand prix to the African continent, with previous reports stating a slot on this season’s calendar, instead of the mooted 2024, was being targeted.
This ultimately failed to come to fruition and it now appears 2024 has been placed on the back burner as well. While positive talks are said to have been held, Motorsport.com has reported that a South African GP will now not go ahead until 2025 at the very earliest, adding that Formula 1 is reluctant to fast-track plans for 2024 with a race deal that ultimately collapses at a later stage due to its long-term unsustainability.
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F1 officials are also said to be concerned over South Africa’s relationship with Russia, amid a growing perception from the west that the government has decided to back Moscow in its ongoing war with Ukraine.
In March 2022, Formula 1 intensified its sanctions against Russia by announcing the termination of its contract with grand prix promoter Rosgonki, in a move that ultimately meant the championship did not switch from Sochi to Saint Petersburg as was planned for this season.
F1 has not raced in South Africa since 1993. Kyalami was the destination then and in 1992, when the championship returned to the country following the end of Apartheid. Kyalami also played host to the South African GP from 1967 to 1985 and has been touted as the likeliest candidate for F1’s return.
The latest news, according to Motorsport.com, has paved the way for the Belgian GP’s host circuit, Spa-Francorchamps, to agree a one-year contract extension, meaning it will remain on the calendar in 2024. The Belgian Grand Prix, a historic part of the Formula 1 calendar, is on the schedule for 2023 after a one-year contract extension was agreed in August.
Heading into last year’s race, the long-term future of the Belgian GP had been in doubt, with its contract set to end amid intensifying pressure for a place on the calendar, as F1 seeks to accommodate new races onto the schedule.