Lewis Hamilton: 'I won't retire until F1 comes to South Africa'

Lewis Hamilton: ‘I won’t retire until Formula 1 comes to South Africa’

Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has vowed to continue racing in the sport until South Africa is awarded a Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton hopes to race in South Africa and bring change. Image: Getty

Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has vowed to continue racing in the sport until South Africa is awarded a Grand Prix.

The Mercedes-Benz driver is gearing up for the final race of the 2023 season in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Hamilton was booted out of Q2 in Saturday’s qualifying session for the race. The Briton will start from 11th place on the grid.

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LEWIS HAMILTON HAS VISITED SOUTH AFRICA ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS

Hamilton and Mercedes teammate George Russell were filmed during a session with fans over the weekend and the 38-year-old responded to a question about the possibility of a South African Grand Prix.

He said: “I’m trying to get South Africa on the calendar, and it would be such a dream for them to get that race. I won’t stop driving until they get it.”

South Africa last hosted a Grand Prix in 1993 at the Kyalami Racing Circuit. Recently several promoters have met with F1’s top brass in South Africa to discuss a way forward for a race in the country.

A consortium led by South Africa’s only F1 champion Jody Scheckter saw their plans scuppered after various parties could not come to an agreement to host a race at a revamped Kyalami in 2024.

Watch the clip of Hamilton below:

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Lewis Hamilton has made his stance clear in a public forum, but it was recently reported that he has spoken to Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali about bringing a race to the country.

As reported by Sports Illustrated, Hamilton told Motorsport Week: “I hear there’s a lot of people complaining about the direction that Stefano and Liberty have been going but I think they’ve been doing an amazing job.

“This sport is growing massively, it’s going to grow even more once we get this movie out. I’m on to Stefano because I really want to get the race in South Africa or in Africa, so if it’s not South Africa, it will be somewhere else there hopefully, because we’re on all the other continents.”