“It would be great to highlight just how beautiful the motherland is” – Lewis Hamilton is excited about increasing American interest in Formula 1 and wants to see the sport return to Africa.
Formula 1 is making major strides in the United States, with it being one of the few countries to have two races on the calendar now – Austin and Miami. Apart from this, there’s also the Haas team which has been operating for a few seasons now.
This certainly excites Lewis Hamilton, speaking ahead of the US Grand Prix this weekend. He is well aware of the thirst for sport Americans have, and would love to see Las Vegas make a return too, which hosted F1 in 1981 and 1982.
“The US Grand Prix is fantastic. And it’s such a huge country, having just one race here for sure isn’t enough to really be able to tap into the sporting culture here and really encapsulate the fans and get them on the journey with us.
“I think definitely you need at least to have two, but there are so many great cities to have a grand prix. Miami is going to be incredible, as is Austin.
“I think that’s quite cool having kind of little mini-championships in these continents, I think it’s not a bad thing for the sport.
“I think we already knew from the beginning that there was huge potential here. My first race in the US was 2007 but already [having] been to a NASCAR race, seeing how it is into an NFL game and NBA game, you just see this.
“They’re crazy about sports over here and there’s never enough sports they always want more, more action.”
Lewis Hamilton’s African dream
The African GP had a prominent presence in the sport’s calendar last century. It was run in the Prince George Circuit from 1934 and 1966 and more crucially in Kyalami from 1967 to 1985, and again for two seasons in 1992 and 1993.
With F1 expanding its calendar to a record number next season, Hamilton hopes Kyalami finds a place again very soon.
“The place that I really feel is dear to my heart and most important to me is is to get a race back in South Africa.
“I think there’s a great following out there and I think it would be great to be able to highlight just how beautiful the motherland is.”
