Lewis Hamilton may have just discovered the most compelling reason to postpone retirement: Formula 1 is finally heading back to Africa, and the seven-time world champion would love nothing more than to be on the grid when that happens.
With the sport preparing to revive the African Grand Prix under a 10-year agreement with Rwanda, Hamilton has been handed fresh motivation to extend his remarkable career.
There is, however, one small complication: the race is expected to arrive in the early 2030s, by which time the Ferrari driver will be well into his forties.
Hamilton, who has spent years campaigning for F1 to return to a continent absent from the calendar since the 1993 South African Grand Prix, is taking the prospect in his stride. Well, mostly.
Hamilton finds a new reason to keep racing
As he explained ahead of the United States Grand Prix, his long-standing dream could leave him with little choice but to keep turning up for work.
“I’m looking forward to racing with him longer and we’ll see about, I mean, I’m now forced to have to stay a lot longer because we have a race in Africa and that’s been my dream, to be able to race in Africa,” Hamilton joked, sitting next to current championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
The young Mercedes driver promptly interjected: “So you’ve got to come” which left Hamilton with little room to maneuver.
“So, yeah, I mean, I have to keep fighting to try and stay fit if I can, if I can still punch out good results over the next year, we’ll keep it going,” he said.
It is an amusing predicament for a driver who has already conquered seven world championships and seemingly every major milestone the sport can offer. Yet the prospect of racing in Africa clearly carries a significance that another trophy cannot quite replicate.
Years of lobbying finally pay off
Hamilton has been pushing for the return for years, repeatedly lobbying the people who could turn his ambition into reality.
Formula 1’s recent announcement represents the culmination of a campaign that has involved considerably more than dropping the occasional hint in a media session.
“I’ve been advocating for a race in Africa for many, many, many years, and countless meetings with the stakeholders, so many meetings with Stefano at his office in London, but also race weekends,” Hamilton explained.
“Countless calls. ‘What’s happening?’, ‘where are we going?’, ‘who are you meeting with?’. Many meetings with different presidents from different countries, lots of phone calls with different presidents in different countries within Africa.
©Ferrari
“For me it’s a place that deserves to have a grand prix,” he added.
“It’s [about] more than just one country, it is about the continent in itself and there’s so many beautiful countries within it and the people are so lovely. The culture is so rich and I think it’s important that we get to show that to the world and we get to do that with our sport.
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“We get to go to all these different countries and people see some of these countries they didn’t really know too much about and all of a sudden it’s on the screen and kids are talking about it.
“They go to school talking about. So I’m really, really hopeful for that grand prix.”
While no firm date has been confirmed for the African Grand Prix in Rwanda, Hamilton will need to remain competitive long enough to make the trip himself. At a projected age of at least 45, he would be pushing the boundaries of longevity even further.
For now, though, retirement can apparently wait. Hamilton has spent years trying to get Formula 1 back to Africa. Having finally helped get the green light, he is hardly going to let age spoil the party.
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