The presence of F1 in Kyalami questioned
The organization of a Grand Prix in South Africa on the Kyalami circuit will not happen in the short term due to registration and organization costs.
The South African circuit, located 25 kilometers from Johannesburg and which hosted F1 from 1967 to 1985 and then in 1992 and 1993, will not be returning to the calendar soon according to its spokesperson Christo Kruger. The last South African Grand Prix was won by Alain Prost the year of his last championship with Williams, ahead of Ayrton Senna and Mark Blundell. Kyalami was renovated in 2014 to meet Formula 1 standards and obtain grade 2, which does not allow for hosting the Grand Prix.
Kruger believes the circuit is ready to make the necessary changes to meet the FIA requirements to obtain the grade 1 necessary to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix, but would like to receive guarantees from Liberty Media beforehand. Indeed, the magnitude of the necessary works almost irrevocably hinders the return of Formula 1 to the southern African country.
The spokesperson for the circuit, Christo Kruger, would really like to see F1 return to Kyalami but insists that the current organizational costs do not allow it: « Kyalami would indeed welcome Formula 1 back at the South African Grand Prix. We believe there is a legacy we would like to see revived. I also think that the African continent deserves a new Formula 1 race. But the exorbitant costs of hosting Formula 1 are really a headache. It is financially not feasible in the current situation to host Formula 1. »
Kruger assures that the circuit’s owners are ready to negotiate necessary work but lack the means to promote a race: « Kyalami remains there with its infrastructure, and we are ready to enter negotiations and discussions to improve or change the current circuit to meet Formula 1 standards. It is currently a FIA category 2 track, we will move to category 1, but a long-term commitment is needed for Formula 1 in South Africa. However, we do not have the financial means to be the promoter of a Formula 1 race. »
These discussions, in any case, align with Liberty Media’s desire to expand the calendar by incorporating former historic tracks, entirely new circuits, or urban tracks. It is worth noting that a race project in the streets of Cape Town was once mentioned, but according to Kruger, this is not feasible in reality.
