Kyalami’s bid for a South African Grand Prix just picked up a stamp of approval — but not a cheque.
On Friday, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni confirmed the government has endorsed the Kyalami project fronted by Kyalami 9 Hours boss Tom Pearson-Adams as its preferred route to bringing Formula 1 back to the country. That doesn’t mean public money is flowing. Quite the opposite.
“The bid is fully financially supported by the reputable South African private sector and, if successful, will contribute to job creation and economic development,” Ntshavheni said, underlining that the project isn’t drawing from state coffers.
That distinction matters. Formula One Management has repeatedly favored events with direct state involvement, and while a privately funded race isn’t a deal-breaker, it’s certainly swimming upstream. Endorsement without funding is a political nod, not a blank check.
This particular push for Kyalami has been in the works all year. The bid moved early to get its paperwork right, announcing in June that the FIA had approved plans to upgrade the circuit to Grade 1 should F1 come calling. Officials from the project also met FOM in the UK at the end of July to present their case. On paper, it’s the most coherent of the submissions considered by the government-appointed Bid Steering Committee — three proposals entered, one emerged with the official blessing.
But the path is anything but clean. South Africa’s efforts have been as fragmented as its ambitions are grand. Multiple groups have been trying to land F1, often at cross-purposes, and Kyalami’s selection has reignited complaints about the process.
“Cape Town Grand Prix sees this whole process as a flawed process,” said Igshaan Almay, CEO of the Cape Town Grand Prix South Africa project, to the Cape Argus. “Firstly, nowhere in South Africa in the new democracy has there been a request that you have to pay R10 million rand to bid to bring an event to the country.”
Almay argued the required R10m deposit “should not be the determining factor as to whether a bid is considered or not,” adding that bidders were given fewer than 10 days to submit a full proposal and deposit before an extension was eventually granted. It’s a messy look for a country trying to woo one of the world’s most in-demand sporting properties.
Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie, who opened the bidding earlier and later extended the process to “ensure bidders have the time to prepare exceptional proposals,” has been bullish about what an F1 race could deliver: tourism, jobs, and a global shop window. The politics are in place. The finances, less so.
And then there’s the calendar. F1 is capped at 24 races, and the 2025 Formula One World Championship schedule is already full — and still without Africa. That makes the continent the lone blank spot on the map next season, as per the 2025 calendar. It’s no secret F1 wants to fix that. It’s equally clear there are other suitors already deeper into the weeds. Thailand is pushing hard for a Bangkok race, with 2028 floated as a realistic landing spot. Portugal and Turkey continue to circle. In Italy, there’s appetite to bring Imola back in a rotational arrangement with Spa as soon as 2027. Space is tight, interest is high, and the bar for new events keeps rising.
Kyalami does have one thing money can’t buy: heritage. Late last year, David Coulthard hustled a modern Red Bull around the Highveld as part of a promotional run, the sound of an F1 car ricocheting off the grandstands and stirring memories of what used to be. It was a reminder that Kyalami still looks and feels like a proper Grand Prix venue — fast, flowing, and with enough muscle to handle contemporary machinery once the upgrades are done.
But sentiment won’t sign a contract. FOM typically wants concrete: a long-term deal underwritten by public bodies, robust promoter guarantees, and political alignment that can withstand election cycles. A government endorsement without financial backing might tick one of those boxes, but only one.
If there’s a positive spin, it’s that South Africa now has a preferred bid that’s ready to move. The Kyalami group has the FIA’s technical pathway to Grade 1, a clear promoter, and a line into FOM following that July meeting. Compared to the country’s previous false starts, it’s progress.
The risk? That the infighting, the questions around the tender process, and the reluctance to commit state funds put South Africa back where it’s been for a decade: high on F1’s wish list, low on its contract list.
As ever with F1, time will do the talking. The sport would like to tick the Africa box; the calendar would rather not be disturbed; and Kyalami, backed by private money and political goodwill but no treasury, sits in the middle of that tug of war.
For now, the circuit waits. The grandstands are quiet, the pitlane pristine, the upgrade plans ready to go. The next move belongs to FOM — and to a government that may need to decide whether an endorsement is enough to bring the world back to Midrand, or whether it’s finally time to put some skin in the game.
