Lewis Hamilton has told Formula 1 to confront the human rights questions attached to its new African Grand Prix rather than wave them away, saying the sport must “approach it with humility” when it races in Rwanda for the first time in the early 2030s.
Speaking at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, nine days after F1 announced a 10-year agreement with the Rwanda Development Board, the seven-time world champion welcomed a race he has lobbied for across more than a decade of meetings with promoters, executives and heads of state — while refusing to pretend the destination is uncomplicated.
“Of course I don’t get to choose where we go and naturally there’s problems all over the world today,” Hamilton said. “There’s a lot that we don’t know.”
‘More than just one country’
The deal, confirmed on 13 October, will bring the Formula 1 African Grand Prix, presented by Visit Rwanda, to a purpose-built circuit at Bugesera, around 40km south of Kigali. The layout is being designed jointly by WurzDesign, led by former F1 driver Alex Wurz, and Tilke Engineers and Architects, whose portfolio includes Sepang, with the track routed through the hills and lakeside elevation that give Rwanda its “Land of a Thousand Hills” billing.
It will be F1’s first race on the continent since the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami — a 33-year absence that Hamilton has spent much of his career campaigning to end.
“I’ve been advocating for a race in Africa for many, many, many years,” he said, citing “countless meetings with the stakeholders” and talks with multiple presidents. “For me it’s a place that deserves to have a grand prix. It’s more than just one country, it is about the continent in itself.”
Hamilton also turned the question back on the countries that supply F1’s audience, arguing that the sport’s silence on Africa mirrors a wider gap. “Growing up in England, they never ever taught us anything about Africa,” he said. “It needs to be on the curriculum.” He added that “a lot of the problems they have there are still results of colonialism and the west intervening.”
Amnesty, the ICJ and the Congo question
The criticism Hamilton was asked to address is specific. Amnesty International UK called the race “a sportswashing prize for the Rwandan authorities”, with head of campaigns Felix James saying Rwanda’s government is “prolific in arbitrary detention, torture and the repression of free speech”.
The sharper objection comes from across the border. The Democratic Republic of Congo, which accuses Rwanda of backing the M23 rebellion in its east, has filed proceedings against Kigali at the International Court of Justice alleging breaches of treaties covering genocide prevention, racial discrimination, women’s rights and torture. DRC foreign minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner called F1’s decision “morally indefensible” and said it would “help polish the image of an authoritarian leader”, while demanding independent guarantees over mineral sourcing. President Paul Kagame, asked by CNN whether Rwandan troops are in the DRC, said he did not know.
Hamilton did not endorse the deal unconditionally. “Going there doesn’t mean that you neglect the things happening there,” he said, before listing the conflicts he wants the sport’s new platform to acknowledge: “I think we need to make sure we’re pushing to free Congo, free Sudan, free Syria, free Palestine.”
That is a familiar position for a driver who wore a Black Lives Matter shirt on the podium, raised LGBTQ+ rights in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and has repeatedly separated the value of racing somewhere from approval of its government.
A race he may stay for
The timeline makes Hamilton’s involvement an open question rather than a certainty. His Ferrari contract runs to 2027 and he turns 42 in January; a race that lands in the early 2030s would require an extension nobody has yet contemplated.
He appeared willing. “I’m now forced to stay a lot longer because we have a race in Africa,” he said — a line delivered lightly, but one that would reshape the back end of a career already in its 20th season.
F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali framed the agreement as a “landmark”, saying the sport had “always said we would return in the right way, with the right vision and the right partner. That partner is Rwanda.” South Africa, pushing a refurbished Kyalami, was the most prominent rival bid and lost.
What Hamilton has done is set the terms on which the sport’s most prominent voice will arrive. Not a boycott, not a celebration — an insistence that F1 learn the place before it sells it. The circuit has close to five years to be built. The argument about what the race means has already started.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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