Discover Cape Town’s latest F1 grand prix project

The South African government is nearing a decision on which bid to support as it aims to bring Formula 1 back to the country. Organisers behind Cape Town’s bid have detailed the latest changes to their street race proposal.

Earlier bids to revive the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami have failed, but the country’s government has promised a new push to bring the series back to the African powerhouse, opening up a bid process earlier this year. A return to a refurbished Kyalami, which last hosted F1 in 1993, and a proposed street race around Cape Town’s waterfront appear to be the two main contenders to receive public backing, with a deadline for the bid committee’s decision set for the end of April.

Cape Town’s bid is hoping the central, urban location of its Tilke-designed 5.7km circuit, snaking around the Green Point harbour and utilising the facilities around the DHL Stadium built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, will help it get across the line. “The latest design has all the bells and whistles,” Cape Town GP CEO Igshaan Amlay told Motorsport.com. “It’s partly on the waterfront and it also uses the facilities that have been used for the football World Cup.

“We meet all the requirements, with the airport 15 to 20 minutes away from the circuit; we’ve got a top hospital on site and plenty of hotels within walking distance. What also plays a big role is the natural backdrops of Robben Island, the waterfront and Table Mountain. Cape Town has a lot to offer as our top holiday destination.

“We’re up against Kyalami, which has a rich Formula 1 history, so it’s a street race versus a purpose-built circuit. We’ll be waiting to see what the decision will be. Here we could easily accommodate 250,000 people, so it makes it more accessible to more people.”

Contrary to previous proposals, the latest design would not take the circuit through the DHL Stadium itself but run alongside it, using the venue for the paddock, media centre and hospitality areas.

“The purpose of running through the stadium was that it can take a capacity of up to 70,000 people and our intention was to make it accessible to people that can never afford to go to a Formula 1 race,” Amlay explained. “After speaking to the circuit’s designers, there are a few obstacles and it would be better to actually run along the circuit.

“DHL Stadium will be used for the paddocks and the media centre. Everything that was set up for the football World Cup will be reactivated, and it’s already existent within the stadium, so we will make full use of it. We will still run through the original Green Point athletics stadium, which has a rich legacy.”

Even if the government backs either Cape Town or Kyalami, the prospects of an actual F1 return to South Africa are still murky as it would take a compelling bid to convince F1 that it ticks all the right boxes, with the country facing competition from the likes of Thailand, Rwanda and South Korea for a place on the calendar from 2028 and beyond. There are also question marks over how much funding the event will be able to raise through private and public means, with potential corporate sponsors awaiting the government’s bid decision.

“I think Formula 1 has always been looking at getting a race on the African continent, and Lewis Hamilton has also spoken out in favour of it. If you really want to be a world championship, you need a race on the African continent, whether it is in Cape Town, Kyalami or in another African country,” Amlay said. “It should have a positive impact on our economy and tourism sector, not only for the city but for the country as a whole.”

Amlay has been working on his project of bringing F1 to Cape Town for over two decades to no avail, having previously held talks with then-F1-supremo Bernie Ecclestone, but he feels the momentum is now there to finally realise his dream as F1’s popularity has scaled new heights.

“We’ve never shied away from any criticism. Whenever people criticised us, we looked at it seriously and made a few changes,” he added. “When we pitched the idea in 2016, we had interest from various sponsors and investors. The big problem we had was we didn’t get the government’s backing. But now there is a big push, and we have a huge following from the younger generation, who have been following Formula 1 and have been supportive of it.

“We’ve come a long way since first envisaging the concept back in 1999, but we’ve always believed in it. If you believe in something and you persevere, then it will happen.”