The Long, Expensive Race to Bring F1 Back to Africa
Bob Hartslief used to own the Kyalami racetrack in Johannesburg, the venue for a Formula One Grand Prix in Africa more than 30 years ago. F1 has since morphed from a niche sport mostly popular with Europeans into a global phenomenon and a very big business. Liberty Media Corp. purchased the Formula One Group, the company behind the auto racing series, for $4.4 billion in 2017. In 2024, F1 revenue crossed $3.4 billion, and the races drew 1.6 billion TV viewers. Brad Pitt will help further amplify the F1 brand when he stars as a driver in a big-budget movie —titled simply F1 —premiering this June. The series' broadcast deal with ESPN, worth around $85 million a year and set to expire soon, is drawing interest from Amazon.com, Apple and Netflix.
Today, Africa is the only populated continent not on the Grand Prix circuit, a glaring omission for a global sport that recently added races in Qatar and Azerbaijan. Hartslief, 60, is part of a big effort to change that. He's one of several African bidders vying to win the next available license. The cast of characters includes a Porsche executive, a winemaker, a street racing promoter, an Austrian driver and a wartime president. If F1 returns to the continent, South Africa is seen as a strong contender, largely because of its lead on infrastructure, says a person familiar with the deliberations who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Aspiring hosts in the country view the sport's possible return as a way to immediately attract tourists, spur growth and showcase South Africa's progress since the end of apartheid.
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