- Lewis Hamilton names Kenya as top destination of countries he would love to live in.
- The British driver says he isn’t ready to hang up his racing gloves until he gets the chance to compete in a Formula One Grand Prix on African soil.
- Hamilton made these remarks ahead of the 2026 season opener in Melbourne (6–8 March), which will mark his second season with Scuderia Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton has named Kenya as one of the top African countries he’d ever consider living in, revealing he is not ready to hang up his racing gloves just yet, not until he gets to compete in a Formula 1 Grand Prix on African soil.
The seven-time world champion was speaking ahead of the 2026 season opener in Melbourne this weekend (6-8 March), which will mark his second year with Scuderia Ferrari.
When asked about the possibility of F1 returning to Africa, the 41-year-old opened up about his long-standing wish to see more done on the continent.
“I’ve had the privilege, I’ve been to 10 countries now in Africa, there’s still so much more for me to see,” Hamilton said.
For the past six years, I think, maybe seven, I’ve been fighting in the background to get a Grand Prix. Sitting with the stakeholders and asking them ‘why are we not in Africa? We’re on every other continent, why not Africa?”
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Lewis Hamilton champions an F1 race in Africa
Hamilton, F1’s first Black driver- born to a father of Afro-Caribbean heritage and a white mother, who proudly describes himself as half African, made it clear that walking away from the sport before racing in Africa is not an option on his wishlist.
“I don’t want to leave the sport within having a Grand Prix there, without getting to race there. I’m going to be here for a while until that happens because that will be amazing, given that I’m half African.”
Lewis Hamilton names Kenya as top destination to live in Africa
He did not stop there. Hamilton went on to praise the beauty and potential of several African nations, naming Kenya and Rwanda as standout places he would genuinely consider calling home even if Kenya is unlikely to host a Grand Prix.
“I know they’re really trying. I think they have explored quite a few countries. The places I have enjoyed the most so far -I loved Kenya, although I don’t think we’re going to have a Grand Prix there. Rwanda was particularly spectacular. Those are two places where I felt like I could live,” he said.
South Africa is also stunning. I think those are the ones that I think would be good places for us to potentially go to.”
The last time Africa hosted a Formula 1 Grand Prix was in 1993 at Kyalami in South Africa.
Recently, Rwanda emerged as a potential host, but those plans have since cooled. Talks about returning to South Africa either at Kyalami or in Cape Town, have also fallen through in recent years.
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Hamilton also voiced concern over how many African nations continue to be exploited by wealthier Western countries, particularly those that colonized the continent in the 18th and 19th centuries.
“It is the most beautiful part of the world, and I don’t like that the rest of the world owns so much of it and takes so much from it and no-one speaks about it,” Hamilton said.
“I’m really hoping that the people that are running those different countries all unite and come together and take Africa back. That’s what I want to see.”
The Briton is about to begin his 20th season in Formula 1, hoping to bounce back from a challenging debut year with Ferrari – his worst ever in terms of results, having failed to secure a single podium apart from a win in the Shanghai Sprint.