Rothschild aiding bid to take Formula 1 to South Africa
Investment bank Rothschild is working with a consortium on a £300m bid to see Formula 1 return to South Africa for the first time since 1993.
Appetite has grown for the world’s leading motorsport series to return to the African continent, with this Cape Town bid following proposals from Johannesburg and Rwanda.
The consortium is being led by South African mining magnate Neal Froneman, formerly the chief executive of battery metals miner Sibanye Stillwater, with the cooperation of Rothschild.
Major African firms are interested in sponsoring the bid, according to Bloomberg, with the consortium also featuring law firm Webber Wentzel’s Robert Appelbaum and fellow mining tycoon Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan.
City AM understands that Formula 1 is not currently in discussions with South African parties about racing in the country, despite both the Cape Town and Johannesburg bids having some form of governmental backing.
Africa in Formula 1 pole position?
“The Olympics will come for the first time to the African continent,” South African sport minister Gayton McKenzie told City AM earlier this year when asked why Formula 1 is not in the country.
“We have some stuff that is coming to South Africa. People don’t want to talk about it, but it’s an uncomfortable truth that there’s always been [something against] South Africa: no F1, no Olympics, no major soccer tournament [until 2010].
“If you look at the African continent, and then you look at Europe – between Monza, Imola, and Monaco, it’s a close [distance] – you have got three Formula 1 races and in the whole African continent there is none.”
A bid to see racing return to Africa could yet end up in Rwanda. Its president, keen sports fan Paul Kagame, is in favour of building a brand-new track near Kigali, at the Bugesera International Airport.
Formula 1 chief Stefano Domenicali and FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem have previously said the proposal from Rwanda is a serious one.