F1's history in Africa as Rwanda return to end four-decade absence

For the first time since 1993, F1 will be racing in Africa from the early 2030s, with the official announcement of Rwanda joining the calendar in the next decade.

As revealed by RacingNews365 last week, F1 will head to Rwanda at a purpose-built circuit near the capital, Kigali, with the race officially being designated as the 'African Grand Prix'. 

When the race joins the calendar on a 10-year deal in the early part of the next decade, it will be the first time F1 has raced on the continent since the 1993 South African GP at Kyalami - won by Williams' Alain Prost.

Rwandan president Paul Kagame has been pushing for a grand prix in recent years, with Kyalami also touted as a possible destination for a return, with Kigali hosting the 2024 FIA General Assembly and prize-giving ceremony, as he built strong links with F1 president Stefano Domenicali and his FIA counterpart Mohammed Ben Sulayem. 

With the news now officially confirmed, below, RacingNews365 has taken a look at F1's history in Africa, including the race which decided a historic world championship. 

F1 in Africa

To date, F1 has raced on African soil in 24 grands prix across two countries and three venues. 

The first race in Africa came in 1958 in Casablanca, with the Moroccan Grand Prix hosting the championship decider between Mike Hawthorn and Stirling Moss.

With a second-place finish to Moss, Hawthorn became the first British driver to be crowned F1 champion, and promptly retired. The race was also marred by the death of Stewart Lewis-Evans, who sustained burns in an accident and succumbed to his injuries six days later. 

By 1962, the race had moved to East London in South Africa for three races up to 1965, with the circuit in the Eastern Cape also deciding the 1962 title as Graham Hill took his first crown, with that race being held on December 29th!

In 1967, the race moved to Kyalami, near Johannesburg, and on January 1st, 1968, the great Jim Clark achieved F1 history.

In winning, Clark took his 25th grand prix victory, eclipsing the previous record of Juan Manuel Fangio's 24. It would be his final F1 race, as he was killed in an F2 crash in April before round two of the season in Spain in May. 

In 1975, Jody Scheckter became the only African to win in Africa, winning at Kyalami, and in 1979, became the only African to be crowned world champion, winning for Ferrari. 

Tragically, in 1977, Shadow driver Tom Pryce and marshal Frederik Jansen van Vuuren were killed when Pryce's car struck van Vuuren as he ran across the track, with the fire extinguisher the marshal was carrying striking Pryce's helmet, killing both instantly.

In 1981, the race was originally meant to open the season, but was run as a non-championship grand prix owing to the ongoing FISA-FOCA war, and in 1982, the drivers even went on strike on the eve of the race over new superlicence rules imposed.

Three years later, in 1985, the final race under Apartheid South Africa was run on a Saturday and won by Nigel Mansell for Williams. It was the last Saturday race in F1 until the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix. 

That race was run under anti-apartheid international restrictions, with Ligier and Renault receiving pressure from the French government to withdraw. 

Following the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990, global sport began to return to South Africa in the early 1990s, with F1 also doing so in 1992.

Two more races at Kyalami were held in 1992 and 1993, won by Mansell and Prost, before it fell away in 1994, leading to the near four-decade absence for F1 in Africa, which has now ended.