Tuesday was the deadline for bidders to express their interest in hosting a South African Formula One Grand Prix, with Cape Town and Kyalami seemingly the two biggest rivals for hosting the event.
In December 2024, sport, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie announced a team of experts to form South Africa’s Formula One bid steering committee for the return of the international motor racing event, last held in 1993 at Kyalami and won by Alain Prost in a Williams-Renault.
The team will choose which city and track to put forward for consideration to the F1 Group and global motorsport’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The deadline for submission was initially mid-February but was extended to March 18.
“Hosting a Formula One Grand Prix would boost our economy, tourism and development while showcasing South Africa as a premier global sporting destination. This extension ensures bidders have the time to prepare exceptional proposals,” McKenzie said.
McKenzie’s office did not respond to requests for comment for this article and it is not known how many bids were received, but TimesLIVE believes it may come down to a choice between Kyalami and Cape Town.
Midrand-based Kyalami is a front-runner as the circuit is certified as grade 2 and is “90% ready” for an F1 race, according to circuit owner Toby Venter. Kyalami last year hired Apex Circuit Design to prepare a road map for FIA Grade 1 accreditation, which determined the circuit needs to spend between $5m and $10m to get the required Grade 1 rating.
Kyalami hosted its first Formula One race in 1967 and has long held a prominent place in South African motorsport.
Cape Town is also vying for the race with two separate bids. Cape Town Grand Prix SA (CTGPSA) has proposed running an F1 race on the same 5.7km street circuit that hosted Formula E in 2023, and which was hosted by CTGPSA. The track weaves through the Green Point sport tourism precinct which includes the DHL Stadium.
A separate, independent Cape Town bid not submitted to the BSC, is funded by American company Boundless Motorsport which seeks to build a new FIA-certified Grand Prix circuit capable of hosting more than 125,000 fans close to the city. It is run by South African-born Bobby Hartslief, a former Kyalami Grand Prix and later Phakisa MotoGP organiser.