Lewis Hamilton backs plans for F1 to add Rwandan Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has backed proposals for Rwanda to host a Formula One grand prix in the future, having travelled around Africa during the summer break and visited a refugee camp.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said recently that Rwanda has “presented a good plan” and is serious about hosting a grand prix on a permanent circuit.

Speaking on Thursday ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, Hamilton said: “We can’t be adding races in other locations and continue to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world takes from — no one gives anything to Africa.

“I think having a grand prix there would really highlight how great the place is and bring in tourism … so why are we not on that continent? The current excuse is maybe there’s not a track that is ready, but there is at least one track that’s ready,” he said, referring to Kyalami in South Africa, which hosted 21 races between 1967 and 1993.

Hamilton, 39, has continually backed proposals for a race in Africa but plans to resurrect the South African Grand Prix have not yet materialised.

He said: “Rwanda is one of my favourite places I’ve been to. I’ve been doing a lot of work in the background and spoken to people in Rwanda and South Africa. That’s a long project, but it’s amazing that they’re so keen to get it.”

The Rwandan capital, Kigali, will host the FIA Annual General Assembly and Prize Giving Ceremony in December.

Hamilton told reporters he is still thinking about his experience of visiting Maratane Refugee Settlement, a refugee camp in northern Mozambique.

“I’m still digesting the trip and going to a refugee camp and seeing the work being done there and how people are displaced,” he said. “It’s one thing reading about it and seeing it on the news, but actually seeing it and speaking to kids who have 10km to get to school to have an education and then 10km back and not having school meals, not able to eat during the day, they have really tough lives over there.

“That was really heavy to see and experience, and then in Senegal seeing the slave areas, seeing what the country has been through.

“If you don’t see it and experience it or speak to someone who has been seriously affected by it, you can’t even imagine. We need more empathy. … It’s great to see organisations doing amazing work, and what can I do to get on board, how can I help? So that’s what I’m trying to do.”