Amid talks of Rwanda’s proposal to bring a Formula One race to Africa, seven-time World Champion Lews Hamilton backed the idea of taking the championships to the African continent.
The Mercedes driver advocated his support to adding Africa to the F1 race calendar stating that the championships can’t ignore the continent.
“Why are we not on that continent?”, Hamilton began.
“We can’t be adding races in other locations and continue to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world just takes from. No one gives anything to Africa,” the 39-year-old said.
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He elaborated on the overall development that a race in the African continent could trigger including a boost in the tourism industry of the diverse landmass.
“I think having a Grand Prix there will really be able to highlight just how great the place is and bring in tourism and all sorts of things,” the Mercedes driver explained.
The Brit also reflected on one of his trips to Africa during which he met with refugees and made it a point to highlight the struggles of those who have been displaced from their lands.
“If you don’t see it and experience it or speak to someone who’s been seriously affected by it, you couldn’t even imagine,” he said.
He added that it was of the essence that the organisers of the championships bring the world of motorsport to the continent.
“The current excuse is that maybe there’s not a track that’s ready, but there is at least one track that’s ready there,” the seven-time champion said.
“In the short term, we should just get on that track and have that as part of the calendar and then work on building out something even more,” Hamilton concluded.
Africa hasn’t hosted an F1 race since South Africa did all the way back in the year 1993.
Rwanda hopes to reset the timer on the same as F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali has set up a meeting with representatives from Rwanda, who have come up with a proposal.