South Africa\u2019s long road back to Formula 1 has hit another roadblock, with Stefano Domenicali hinting that Turkey\u2019s Istanbul Park could rejoin the calendar in 2027, closing yet another door on Africa\u2019s hopes.<\/p>\n
The Formula 1 World Championship has not truly been a world championship since 1993, when the sport left the Kyalami circuit for the final time as the country grappled with apartheid, racism, and inequality.<\/p>\n
Stefano Domenicali signals no South African Grand Prix before 2029<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n However, Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie made it his mission to see Formula 1 return to South African shores.<\/p>\n Declaring that his term in office would \u201cbe a failure\u201d if he doesn\u2019t bring the pinnacle of motorsport back to the country, McKenzie\u2019s efforts to date have proved futile.<\/p>\n Although he launched a Formula 1 Bid Steering Committee in 2023 and indicated a preference for Kyalami, he never formally confirmed it. The circuit also received the FIA\u2019s go-ahead to upgrade the Johannesburg venue to a Grade 1 venue, at the cost of millions.<\/p>\n But McKenzie still came back empty-handed when he visited FOM and the FIA last year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have underestimated what is required to host an F1 event. But F1 has held our hand,\u201d he declared at the time to ENCA.<\/p>\n \u201cBut now what we\u2019re doing is, we\u2019ve got the experts and are putting together a bid they can\u2019t refuse.\u201d<\/p>\n But it may be a case of too little, too late for McKenzie and South Africa\u2019s F1 fans.<\/p>\n A South African F1 Grand Prix: Really?<\/p>\n South Africa Grand Prix: Separating F1 hype from depressing reality<\/a><\/p>\n South Africa admits F1 dream is on hold as Sports Minister vows new bid<\/a><\/p>\n This season\u2019s calendar changes saw Spain\u2019s new track, Madrid\u2019s new \u2018Madring\u2019 circuit, replace the iconic Imola circuit while next season Barcelona and Spa will enter a rotating deal until 2032, with Portugal stepping into the breach in a two-year deal. Next in line, it\u2019s understood, is Turkey.<\/p>\n Formula 1 chief Domenicali was asked about this during a pre-season interview.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the way, Turkey is not, let\u2019s say, 100 percent confirmed,\u201d he told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets in Bahrain. \u201cStay tuned on Turkey, let me put it this way.<\/p>\n \u201cBut also to answer to the people that were saying there were too many street races. I mean, the new one that are coming are tracks, not the street races. So once again, you know, we need to always remember prudency in comments.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are tracks with the heritage, with the great racing background, if I may say. And therefore this is, as I said, Turkey: stay tuned. But Portugal is definitely there. Madrid is a semi-permanent track that is working to be ready this year.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd with regard to the numbers, I will stick with what we said is 24 and we will manage that number in order to keep eventual other alternation, if possible, in the future. But we want to stick with that number.\u201d<\/p>\n Sticking to 24 races means existing circuits and pending ones would have to share deal so that all the countries that want to host a race can do so.<\/p>\n But there won\u2019t be more sharing deals before 2029 given the sport\u2019s existing contracts.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean in terms, the big countries that have nominated before, for sure this will be the case. It will not be in the short time, because the need of building something from zero and in a certain situation was the right time,\u201d said Domenicali.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I would say these things can happen after \u201929 because we have other contracts.<\/p>\n \u201cSo there is a very evolving situation, very positive. We have a quality problem to say that we can take decision on where we want to go, of course, keeping the focus in making sure that we hopefully find the right decision. Because we don\u2019t want to expand the number, as we said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s a point on which we need to work on. But I don\u2019t see this happening before 2029.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Mat Coch<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n