Rwanda to Host F1 Race From Early 2030s in 10-Year Deal, Circuit Design Detailed
KIGALI — Rwanda will host a Formula 1 race from the early 2030s under a 10-year agreement, Reuters reported on October 14, marking F1's return to Africa. Formula 1 and the circuit's designers released design details for Rwanda's RISE Motordrome around October 14.
The circuit will feature a record-breaking 197-metre elevation gain per lap, the highest on the F1 calendar, designer Tilke said, according to PlanetF1. The track rises and falls with gradients of 13 percent and 12 percent, making use of the topography. The site is in the Bugesera district, next to the Rwanda Development Board's strategic airport development area, set between two hills with a lake below. The designers said the two hillsides can hold around 35,000 to 40,000 spectators on either side, with the track oscillating between them.
The project took off after Kigali hosted the FIA General Assembly in 2024, which triggered conversations with the local government about staging a race, and former F1 driver Alex Wurz was involved in identifying the circuit location. A South African official wrote on social media the same day that the narrative that South Africa 'lost' Formula 1 to Rwanda misinterprets how the F1 calendar operates, as the two countries are not competing for the same years.
(Sources: Reuters, Formula 1, PlanetF1)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Emmanuelkwizera／CC BY-SA 4.0（Wikimedia Commons）
