South African officials have extended a deadline for potential hosts to put forward their bid to hold the country's first Formula 1 race since 1993.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture’s F1 Bid Steering Committee opened a request for expressions of interest for a race to be held in 2026 or 2027 at the latest.
The committee hopes that the process will allow it to find the venue that could potentially secure F1’s return to South Africa for a 10-year period.
The deadline for bids was originally January 31, but this has now been extended to March 18 in the hope that the extra time will allow those in the running to get their proposals in the proper shape needed, as the previous turnaround was quite tight.
Minister of sports, arts and culture Gayton McKenzie said: “This extension ensures bidders have the time to prepare exceptional proposals.”
The early favourite
While there has not been any word from officials about which venues are in the running, three different projects have emerged so far as leading the charge for the South African GP.
The most obvious one is Kyalami, which has been the favourite from the moment that minister McKenzie announced last December that he was pushing on with the F1 plans.
The former home of the South African GP is a ready-made solution and, although the venue will need some modification to bring it up to current F1 standards (it is currently only Grade 2), the cost of doing that is much less than building somewhere up from scratch.
Kyalami seems to be very much the preferred option for McKenzie, who told South African publication Supersport late last year that he felt that this was the place that would be chosen.
"The race is going to happen at Kyalami,” he said. “Kyalami is doing what they need to do. [Circuit bosses] Toby Venter and Willie Venter are doing a great job bringing Kyalami to F1 standards. They have put money in there, it is there.
"They have met with Apex, that is doing the track to bring it to F1 standards. We are making sure that we are going to host, so I think we are looking at 2027. We were there, it’s going to happen. It’s coming here."
But while Kyalami is a logical choice, there are some legacy factors – especially with memories being fresh of a failed bid to get the race back there for 2023.
Everything seemed to be lined up with F1 for the race to be back on the schedule, but it ultimately fell through when financial guarantees required for the event to get the green light were not forthcoming.
The current F1 Bid Steering Committee will be more than aware of what happened last time, and the expressions of interest document demands a “sophisticated delivery of a long-term, multi-year data-led and market-researched commercial strategy” to ensure the business plan is robust for the 10-year duration of the contract that is being sought.
Two Cape Town bids
Kyalami is not alone in chasing a South African GP though, and there are known to be two other bids that have thrown their hats into the ring – and amazingly both are based in Cape Town.
The first is from local promoter Cape Town Grand Prix SA, which has revealed its proposal to hold a street race on a 5.7km circuit that runs around the DHL Stadium to the northwest of the city.
This is the same location that held a Formula E race in February 2023. But while that event was a hit with fans, it did not keep its place on the schedule because the costs involved did not make it financially viable.
In the last few days, a second effort to hold a race in Cape Town has emerged, as part of a revised effort from a bid that eventually wants to hold a race in the future Wakanda Smart City Development.
That project, earmarked to be built on a private beachfront in Eastern Cape along the Nelson Mandela Corridor that aims to become a business hub like Singapore and Dubai, includes plans to construct a grand prix track there – but it will not be ready for up to 10 years.
That timeframe does not fit in with South Africa’s plans right now, which is why the businessman behind it – Matthew Malefane – is throwing efforts behind an alternative Cape Town bid.
Speaking to the Newzroom Afrika channel a few days ago, Malefane said he was close to signing off on the plans for a Cape Town race that could be ready by the 2027 date that is being targeted.
“It's a green field infrastructure on existing land that is fully developed,” he said. “It’s 570 hectares, right in the middle of the city.
“I shall not reveal where, because we're tying up the final agreements on the awarding of that land. But we believe that Cape Town, recently voted the best city in the world, has what it takes.”
He thinks that a plan to utilise cruise ships in the harbour will help ensure that there is plenty of accommodation for fans.
“We will be able to dock enough cruise liner ships that will dock 100,000- 200,000 spectators, who will then be within proximity of the F1 track.”
Malefane claims he has been in contact with F1 over his idea, and is urging South Africa’s president to take charge of proceedings because of concerns he has of an ‘agenda’ to help Kyalami.
“We have direct engagement with the management of F1 group, and they have directly invited us to complete our bid,” he said.
“But of course, they advise that we bring the government on board in support, because it is important to be supported by the government, notwithstanding what our Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie is doing in terms of his own agenda.
“Hence, we have also made representations to our President, Cyril Ramaphosa, to take charge and lead and chair the South African F1 bid, just like his counterpart, Paul Kagame in Rwanda is doing.”
The extension of the deadline for South African officials to examine the bids gives more time for all the candidates to get their plans in order.
But even the final selection of a winner will not be the end of the process, because the country still then needs to go to F1 and get a final deal across the line to secure a place on the calendar.
There remains a long way to go but, after a more than 30-year hiatus, South Africa has the best chance it has had for a while of bringing F1 back to the country.
