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F1 just gave a new race a 10-year deal and fans HATE the track layout

Published

2 hours ago

October 13, 2026

f1-just-gave-a-new-race-a-10-year-deal-and-fans-hate-the-track-layout

F1 made a historic announcement on Tuesday with the confirmation that the sport will be returning to Africa for the first time since 1993.

While many expected South Africa and an updated Kyalami circuit (who hosted the last race) to be the venue to put F1 back on the continent, there has been a bit of a switcheroo.

Instead F1 is now heading to Rwanda in a race that will be officially titled the African Grand Prix presented by Visit Rwanda. It is no small deal either.

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That’s because the race’s initial contract is to hold 10 races and at this point you are probably wondering why I haven’t told you when it’s coming on to the calendar.

F1 is heading to Rwanda…soon

The answer is quite a simple one, no-one knows. F1 officially say its from the ‘early 2030s’ so 2030 as a provisional date and then we can give it a few more years after that.

There is a very good reason for this, it’s because Rwanda doesn’t yet have a race track even close to being fit to hosting an F1 grand prix, so it is starting from scratch.

Thankfully, some thought has already gone into this, and F1 have kindly shared a computer generated image (that you can see here) of what the track will look like in Bugesera.

The good news is that it is not a street circuit. In fact, it’s quite a scenic location away from massive built-up areas, just like old traditional race circuits.

There are undulating areas of the track too, but F1 fans are still not happy about it.

In the comments under the unveiling of the track on the F1 twitter page, many feared it was a replica of the unpopular Madring street circuit which made its debut for the 2026 Spanis Grand Prix last month.

Fans fear another Madring

One fan said: F***ing stop I beg this is Madring 2.0 literally”, with another adding “F1 = building a new track with no overtake opportunities”.

The pile on continued, with another fan saying: “Bunch of nonsense turns, small-ass straight, apparently no heavy braking zone. Yeah, it’s gonna be great racing there.”

The FIA were also criticised with a fan adding: “Can’t see a long straight. Can’t see long, overtaking high-speed corners. The FIA are killing the sport with poorly designed tracks.”

Fans hope the track offers more overtaking than the new Spanish Grand Prix at Madring

Not all of the feedback was negative thought, one defender of the circuit said: “The elevation changes could make this really interesting. I just hope they leave enough room for overtaking because nobody wants 60 laps of cars following each other around a beautiful circuit.”

Another added: “At least it’s not a street circuit.”. One fan had similar sentiments, saying: “I like it, more tracks like this and less trash like Miami, Madring etc.”

The circuit will be 40 kilometres south of the capital city of Kigali, adjacent to its new international airport, and will be an FIA Grade 1 standard as part of a wider sports, tourism, infrastructure and commercial development project led by the Rwanda Development Board.

F1 president: This is for 100million fans

F1 president Stefano Domenicali said: “Today is a landmark moment for Formula 1.

“With Rwanda joining the calendar from the next decade, our sport will race in every inhabited continent, bringing the world championship closer than ever to fans around the globe.

“Africa has always been part of Formula 1’s future, and from the beginning we were determined to return in the right way, with the right partner, a long-term commitment and a clear vision for creating meaningful impact.

“I would like to thank His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, the Government of Rwanda, the Rwanda Development Board, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem and everyone whose dedication and collaboration have made this possible.

“This is about much more than hosting a grand prix. Together, we can create lasting economic and social benefits through tourism, investment, skills development and local business growth, ensuring the positive impact of this event is felt for generations.

“For our fans, this is an especially exciting moment. Africa is home to more than 100 million Formula 1 fans, and that number continues to grow rapidly. We are bringing the excitement, energy and drama of Formula 1 closer to millions of people who have waited a long time to see our sport return to the continent, and we look forward to writing an exciting new chapter together.”

How long is each F1 track’s contract?

Grand Prix	Circuit / Location	Contract Ends
Dutch GP	Zandvoort	2026
Singapore GP	Marina Bay	2028
Mexico City GP	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez	2028
Portuguese GP	Portimão	2028
Japanese GP	Suzuka	2029
Saudi Arabian GP	Jeddah / future venue TBC	2030*
Abu Dhabi GP	Yas Marina	2030
São Paulo GP	Interlagos	2030
Chinese GP	Shanghai	2030
Azerbaijan GP	Baku	2030
Qatar GP	Lusail / future venue TBC	2031*
Italian GP	Monza	2031
Belgian GP	Spa-Francorchamps	2031**
Turkish GP	Istanbul Park	2031
Hungarian GP	Hungaroring	2032
Barcelona-Catalunya GP	Barcelona	2032**
British GP	Silverstone	2034
United States GP	Circuit of the Americas	2034
Spanish GP	Madrid	2035
Canadian GP	Montreal	2035
Monaco GP	Monte Carlo	2035
Bahrain GP	Sakhir	2036
Australian GP	Albert Park	2037
Las Vegas GP	Las Vegas Strip	2037
Miami GP	Miami International Autodrome	2041
Austrian GP	Red Bull Ring	2041
African GP (Rwanda)	New Bugesera circuit	10-year deal (expiry TBC)

* Contracted event may move to a different circuit; precise expiry details may require confirmation.
** Rotational hosting arrangements apply.
Rwanda’s inaugural race year and contract expiry remain to be confirmed.

FIRST LOOK! The plans for the purpose-built circuit in Bugesera, Rwanda 🇷🇼

Located 40 kilometres south of Kigali, the circuit will be designed to work in harmony with the natural landscape and use the area’s elevation changes to create a unique and challenging racing experience

#F1

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 13, 2026

I’ve been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

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Williams F1 driver caught up in four-car pit lane pileup

Published

2 days ago

October 12, 2026

Pablo Ferri Marcos VizcarraMonica Gonzalez Islas

williams-f1-driver-caught-up-in-four-car-pit-lane-pileup

For all that F1 cars are in incredibly close quarters in the pit lane, with plenty of complaints about unsafe releases, it’s actually pretty rare to see an actual accident.

That’ll be a positive for Williams test and reserve driver Luke Browning if he ever makes it into the series full-time, because it means he’s unlikely to get a race wrecked like he did in Super Formula on Sunday.

Round 10 of the season was being held at the Fuji Speedway on Sunday, with about half of the 41-lap race distance complete when Browning and a number of other drivers pitted.

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Nirei Fukuzumi, fourth in the championship, was completing a pit stop ahead of Browning’s group and pulled a few lengths out of his pit box as Browning attempted to pull into his own, directly in front of Fukuzumi’s.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton takes Ferrari blame as FIA issue penalty verdict at Singapore GP

Browning caught in four-car pit lane pileup

The Japanese driver’s pit crew releasing him left Browning with no choice but to slam on the brakes in order to avoid smacking into the side of the Rookie Racing driver’s car.

Unfortunately for the Brit, there were two other cars in close attendance, who simply couldn’t react quickly enough to avoid creating a chain effect of bumper cars.

Syun Koide came straight out of his own pit box into the fast lane and was confronted with a suddenly stationary car, hitting Browning’s left rear corner to punt him at a 90 degree angle to the pit lane before Rikuto Kobayashi hit Koide from behind – wedging his nose underneath the car ahead.

The chaotic race, won by Racing Bulls test and reserve driver Ayumu Iwasa, featured three safety cars and eight retirements.

#スーパーフォーミュラ #SFormula #富士スピードウェイ #fsw

ピットレーンで4重クラッシュ！ https://t.co/SalpWUeFbv

— yuki (@snow_r25) October 11, 2026

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Lance Stroll gives three-word interview after new Aston Martin nightmare in Singapore

Published

3 days ago

October 10, 2026

Ines Santaeulalia FernandezEL PAIS

lance-stroll-gives-three-word-interview-after-new-aston-martin-nightmare-in-singapore

You have to feel for Lance Stroll and Aston Martin after another F1 nightmare befell the struggling team at the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday.

This time there was zero blame attached to a team which has lurched from disaster to disaster in a 2026 which has been massively short of the lofty pre-season expectations for Adrian Newey and co.

Now it is F1 itself putting a spanner in the works as well, ruining the high hopes Aston had heading into race weekend at the Marina Bay circuit.

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After Fernando Alonso claimed a spectacular P8 at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia last weekend, the team’s Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack said he was very hopeful Aston Martin would have another strong weekend Singapore.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton takes Ferrari blame as FIA issue penalty verdict at Singapore GP

Stroll hopes dashed as Overtake Mode blunder hits Aston Martin

Those hopes did not last very long on Friday though as more unwanted chaos struck, on the back of that pre-race software nightmare in Sepang last weekend.

This time it was a sporting blunder of a different sort, with Overtake Mode not being reactivated after a red flag had caused SQ1 to be red-flagged.

This meant some drivers were unable to improve their lap times and were eliminated – including the 27-year-old Stroll.

What can you say? 3 words, 17 seconds

The latest shambles left Aston Martin considering whether to launch a protest, while there was little Stroll could say about what had happened.

To be precise, his post-session interview with F1 delivered 3 words and 17 seconds. Most of that time used by his interviewer asking questions.

When asked how frustrating it was that he hadn’t been able to get in the cleanest, fastest lap possible, Stroll responded: “It’s okay”.

When asked how the car felt, he responded: “Okay”.

And that was it, as the Canadian – somehow smiling despite the day’s events – exited stage left.

Stroll will start P18 for today’s Sprint race (5pm local time, 10am UK, 5am Eastern) with team-mate Fernando Alonso in P15.

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Ferrari issue

Published

5 days ago

October 9, 2026

Oscar Gutierrez GarridoCristian Segura

Chemistry issues at Ferrari? What chemistry issues at Ferrari!

The team has issued an ‘unofficial statement’ on social media, after Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton hijacked their social media accounts for a few hours – causing particular chaos on Instagram.

One video saw Hamilton telling his team-mate ‘Charles, we’re supposed to be taking over socials, I don’t really know how to do it’, before the Monegasque said that he didn’t either – ‘but we’ll find a way’.

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What followed was a series of selfies and bizarrely filtered videos, many of which had at least one of the Scuderia drivers giggling audibly behind the camera, and a video of the pair taking a new profile picture for the team’s Instagram page – a profile picture which has since been returned to the famous prancing horse logo, with the social team wresting back control.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton Ferrari impact revealed as Verstappen questions Maranello move

Hamilton and Leclerc unleash chaos online

The team continued to play up the joke, putting out their ‘unofficial statement’ a few hours later to say ‘two individuals within the organisation gained unauthorised control’ of their social accounts.

Their ‘highly questionable editorial decisions’ were noted, which included that profile picture change.

The chaos was less severe on Twitter, but there were still signs of the pair’s mischief with a couple of videos people uploaded, and an all-caps plea to follow Leclerc’s account on the site.

Hi this is Charles

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) October 8, 2026

Ferrari statement on social chaos

Ferrari’s ‘unofficial statement’ read: “Scuderia Ferrari HP confirms that, over the past two hours, two individuals within the organisation gained unauthorised control of our social media channels.

“During this period, a series of highly questionable editorial decisions were made, including changes to our profile picture and the publication of content that did not undergo our standard approval procedures.

“We can confirm that the two suspects have been identified and the situation has now been contained. Full control of our accounts has been restored.

“We thank our fans for their understanding during this unprecedented incident.”

Leclerc and Hamilton will return to their actual day jobs on Friday as Free Practice 1 and Sprint Qualifying kick off Singapore Grand Prix weekend at the Marina Bay circuit.