'Take Africa back': 7-time F1 champ Lewis Hamilton wants to race in Africa GP before retiring

Lewis Hamilton, 7-time Formula 1 champion, wants to race in an Africa Grand Prix before calling his time in the sport. The 41-year-old is currently gearing up for the upcomin F1 2026 seaso which starts Sunday (Mar 8) with Australian GP in Melbourne where he will race for Ferarri. Hamilton, having African roots, also wants people of Africa to take back their continent from other countries including the British. His statement came on Thursday (Mar 5), two days out of season's first race. Notably, Hamilton is not only the first Black British driver to win a F1 title but he's the first Black driver in whole of sports.

Why Hamilton is calling for people to take back Africa?

The British driver, who has roots from Togo and Benin in Africa, while talking to reporters on Mar 5, said: "I think 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. I'm really hoping that the people that are running those different countries all unite and come together and take Africa back."

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"That's what I want to see. Take it back from the French, take it back from the Spanish, take it back from the Portuguese and the British. It's so important for the future of that continent. They have all the resources to be the greatest and most powerful place in the world, and that's probably why they are being controlled the way they are," he added.

How Hamilton is working towards his dream of Africa GP?

Hamilton also informed the reporters that he's been talking to the stakeholders about a potential Africa GP for the last decade. The F1 champ also suggested a couple of countries for the event - Rwanda and South Africa.

"I have been fighting in the background to get a grand prix ... sitting with stakeholders," he said. They're setting certain dates; I'm like, 'Damn, I could be running out of time,' so I'm going to be here for a while until that happens. That would be amazing, given that I'm half African. There's one on every other continent, why not Africa? I know they're really trying."