» Todt: F1 return to Africa unlikely

FIA President Jean Todt has rejected suggestions – at least for the time being – that the Formula 1 circus could return to the African continent after a near 20-year absence.

On the back of South Africa successfully hosting the football World Cup earlier this year, F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone expressed hopes that the nation – which played host to Grands Prix during 1962-5, 1967-85 and 1992-3 – would return to the F1 calendar “in about three years time”.

Of late, it emerged that a South African consortium was working on a project to return the sport to the country via a circuit they were looking to construct in Durban, and had requested government support from the country’s president, Jacob Zuma.

When asked about the prospect of such an eventuation, Todt – currently visiting Kenya – said: “I don’t see any opportunity in the next three to five years.”

The Frenchman did, however, add that a World Rally Championship or cross-country event would be more likely.

Kenya had previously played host to the Safari Rally round of the WRC, while the northern part of the continent had (until recently) played host to the Paris-Dakar Rally.

[Original image via F1 Site]