Officials have announced the opening of the bidding process to become promoters for the potential return of the South African Grand Prix.

The race was last held at Kyalami in 1993, which holds one of the bids, along with the Phakisa Raceway in Welkom, alongside a third bid under the banner of “Wakanda City”.

South African GP: Three potential bids announced for potential F1 return

At a press conference held at Kyalami, South Africa’s sports, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie explained there are three potential locations being looked at for a return to the country.

Kyalami, near Johannesburg, which hosted the South African Grand Prix 21 times, is looking at returning to the calendar by making the necessary upgrades to bring the circuit up to FIA Grade 1 status, with the track currently sitting at Grade 2 listing.

“We have hosted the World Cup, South Africa is ready, and we will host the best Formula 1 race,” McKenzie said to SportsBoom. “South Africa is the greatest country.

“We want Rwanda to get Formula 1, we want South Africa to get Formula 1, why when it comes to Africa it must be one? Rwanda’s time is here; South Africa’s time is here.

“Lewis Hamilton, you said you had a dream to race in South Africa.

“I’m standing here to tell you that we will not rest until your dream comes to a realisation that you will race in South Africa.”

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A 13-person Bid Steering Committee was unveiled at the press conference to aid the efforts to get South Africa back onto the calendar, with organisers looking at a potential 2027 race if a bid is successful.

Rwandan president Paul Kagame confirmed recently that his nation is launching a bid to reach Formula 1 for the first time, with Africa not having held a Grand Prix since South Africa fell away from the calendar over 30 years ago.

But rather than it being a case of one African nation looking at being successful in their efforts, McKenzie added: “It is not a zero-sum game; it doesn’t need to be South Africa. It doesn’t need to be Rwanda. One of the two, you just need to look at F1 to know. We wish Rwanda well!”

Former Red Bull driver David Coulthard took a 2011 challenger around Kyalami in a recent show run, declaring the circuit “ready” to host Formula 1 again, should the opportunity arise.

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has spoken before about the prospect of capping the calendar at 24 races, with the likes of Monza, Monaco and Shanghai all having agreed recent contract extensions to remain on the schedule.

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