Sad news for brand new business-brained American F1 fans who have have seen a few clips of Drive to Survive: the Las Vegas Grand Prix will not matter this season.

Kimi Antonelli might not wrap up the 2026 drivers’ championship next time out in Austin (although there’s a chance), but it’s almost impossibly unlikely that the title will be on the line by the time F1 rocks up in the Nevada desert.

The solution? Move the Las Vegas Grand Prix to a relevant date so that it gets the champagne moment, obviously. Because Las Vegas (?) deserves (?) that more than other races (???), thanks to its…well, it can’t be because of the great racing or the history of the circuit, actually. There’s probably a reason in there somewhere.

Long-time Vegas-based sports TV figure Chris Maathuis has warned that Antonelli wrapping the title up a week before cars hit the Strip is ‘not good for F1’, calling for the race to be moved to a ‘relevant weekend’.

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F1 doomed to repeat mistakes of chasing American audience

He went on to follow up with a complaint that the F1 championship setup is ‘silly’ for letting a driver wrap up the title before the last race of the year, before being reminded that gambling exists. ‘Yes!!’ he said. ‘Didn’t factor in the betting angle. Now there is reason to stay engaged to the end’.

As tempting as it is to use the rest of the word count to dunk on this one specific guy, that would miss a broader point. That broader point being: this is the kind of audience that F1 is trying desperately to court in the US.

This is an audience completely subservient to the American way of doing things, complaining about the lack of an artificially dramatic postseason (i.e. the way that all sports work outside the US), and that a shiny but hollow American spectacle isn’t being given the special big boy treatment.

These aren’t F1 fans. These will never be F1 fans, because the product you’re trying to sell them is anathema to them. Congratulations, you’ve created a group of ‘fans’ who don’t watch your races but will complain about them anyway.

But hey, at least maybe they’ll bet on it.

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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.

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.

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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.”

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?

* 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

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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.

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.

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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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